The Lame Shall Enter First Essay Example

Flannery O’Connor’s short story “The Lame Shall Enter First,” focuses on a young boy named Norton, who lost his mother at nine-years-old. The tale takes place a year later. Norton’s father, Sheppard, works as a City Recreational Director on the weekends where he meets a boy named Rufus Johnson. Rufus is a troubled, yet intelligent fourteen-year-old who Sheppard feels shows a lot of potential. Sheppard immediately takes a liking to Rufus and after the young boy leaves the reformatory, Sheppard decides to invite him into his home with the belief that he can transform Rufus into a well-behaved, brilliant young man. Norton is not at all pleased by the idea of Rufus’ presence in his home and the story continues to describe the journey of Norton and the three main contributing factors that lead to his death: neglect, grief and the biblical teachings of Rufus. Sheppard’s neglect of Norton began after the death of his wife. Instead of dealing with the grief caused by the loss, he invested himself into his work. He suggested Norton should do the same, “If you stop thinking about yourself and think what you can do for somebody else then you’ll stop missing your mother” (147). However, Norton was at an age where he critically needed his father for guidance and support, especially after losing his mother but Sheppard did not see this. The way Sheppard saw it, “She has been dead for over a year and a child’s grief should not last so long” (146). When Sheppard met Rufus, he viewed his intelligence as potential and thought that he could be the solution to Rufus’ behavioral issues. He invited Rufus into their home in hopes of pursuing this project of helping the young boy. “He sat for almost ten minutes thinking what he could do if he had Johnson here with him. What was wasted on Norton would cause Johnson to flourish” (152). When Rufus came into Sheppard’s home, Sheppard immediately began to pay more attention to him than to his own son. Sheppard bought Rufus a telescope