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Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories Everything That Rises Must Converge discussion


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Sympathy For Characters

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message 1: by Deborah (new)

Deborah I am trying a second go at Flannery O'Conner. I feel like I -should- like her, because I really love the works of a lot of people who have been influenced by her. My problem so far is that neither she nor I have a lot of affection for any of her characters. Is that ubiquitous throughout her work? Can anyone recommend anything where her characters are more sympathetic?


Dweb That is exactly the right reaction you should have. She created despicable characters who you were not supposed to like or agree with, at least not ultimately. The characters were supposed to be distorted perversions of human frailty and wickedness. We all want to empathize and feel what a character is experiencing and Flannery knew this as an author. In our attempt to empathize, the author has teased sub-conscious self-reflection of her reader to the forefront.

She's too awesome for her own good!


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