Why Is Flannery O Connor Important

The Importance of O’Connor
Although she lived a relatively short life saddled with illness, Flannery O’Connor was still widely renowned for her literary prowess. While the content of these stories were mesmerizing and heartfelt, it was her style that truly made her literature unique and spectacular. O’Connor utilized the Southern Gothic genre and used highly romanticized characters. Perhaps what was most notable was her incorporation of her Catholic faith and questions of morality and ethics. Many of O’Connor’s short stories involve transformation, either of a character’s ideology or faith. In some cases, O’Connor’s characters go through an experience so powerful that it changes their outlook toward life. Admittedly, O’Connor’s endings
One of these themes was racism, a practice she particularly abhorred, and religion. As a Roman Catholic, O’Connor’s stories and themes strike hard. Her stories have underlying Catholic themes especially when dealing with ethics and morality. As a “fellow” Roman Catholic, much of O'Connor's work focuses on Christian concepts of pride, sin, and redemption. This is especially seen in Harry’s own progression throughout “The River”. First, O’Connor explores the theme of identity. In the beginning of the story, Harry tells Mrs. Connin that his name is Bevel, the name of the preacher baptizing people down by the river. This name-changing suggests that Harry longs to be recognized as a person, something that had never happened to Harry while he is living with his family. He also hopes to connect with someone or something else such is his unhappiness at home. The idea of identity resurfaces again when Harry questions Mrs. Connin about a picture of Jesus with some children. Though Harry had always thought that Jesus was a swear word, but through Mrs. Connin’s explanations, he soon realizes that he was in fact made by Jesus, rather than by Dr. Sladewall who he had previously thought. Harry’s lack of knowledge when it comes to Jesus is also significant, since it emphasizes the lack of faith that Harry’s parents had.
In “The River”, O’Connor explores the metaphors of the sun and the sky. The frequent descriptions of the sun reinforce the idea that hope and faith can overcome the darkness of sin. As Mrs. Connin takes her children and “Bevel” to the healing at the river, "The white Sunday sun followed at a little distance, climbing fast through a scum of gray cloud as if it meant to overtake them" (O’Connor 162-163). In addition, When Bevel (the preacher) tells Bevel (the child) that after he is baptized he will "count," Harry looks over his shoulder "at the pieces of the white sun scattered in the river" (168). In sharp contrast, when Harry wakes up at home the next day, he sees that “the sun came in palely, stained gray by the glass" (171); in this case, the sun cannot shine in the home because his family never had faith in God and never taught Harry in the ways of religion. However, when Harry leaves and follows the path he took the day before to return to the river, the sun was “pale yellow and high and hot" (172). Similarly, the sky also represents an openness to faith. As Bevel (the preacher) gives his sermon and baptizes Bevel in the river, his eyes follow the paths of two birds which eventually settle "in the top of the highest pine and sat hunch-shouldered as if they were supporting the sky" (166). When he is displeased, like in the moment after Harry tells him that his mother is not sick, but in fact only suffering from