Psychoanalysis of Flannery O'Connor

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Psychoanalysis of Flannery O'Connor
Introduction
Flannery O’Conner stories are used by many scholars and researchers in analysis of short stories. These stories depict the life experiences of Flannery O'Connor and her perceptions about life. Her works can be analyzed from a psychoanalytic approach, since her childhood experiences contributed significantly to her adulthood contributions in literature. The behaviors of an adult that are related to childhood experiences are explained in the psychoanalytic theory. The theory was developed in the 19th century by Sigmund Freud, am Austrian neurologist. Since then, many psychologists have focused on development of the theory, which is now based on certain principle tenets. One of these tenets is that the personality of a person in adulthood is determined by his/her experiences in childhood. The other tenet states that the behavior of a person, cognition, and experiences are significantly determined by irrational drives. In addition, the drives are unconscious in nature. A psychoanalytic approach shows that the works of Flannery O'Connor are driven by her childhood experiences. This is because there is a major similarity between her works in different short stories particularly on the themes addressed. This essay is psychoanalysis of Flannery O'Connor focusing on “A Good Man is Hard to find” and “Revelation”.
Psychoanalysis of Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor believes that a family vacation can turn into a disaster if the members of such a family are only mindful of their own welfare. In the story “A Good Man is hard to find”, a self-centered grandmother only considers her opinions and that of her family members while neglecting those of other people. Her family members are also like the grandmother. This has led them to the Misfit who has grown to become a damaged person based on his childhood trauma (Connor 1). The Misfit is in disagreement with the religious beliefs of the grandmother, which makes it hard for the grandmother to assist him. From a psychoanalytic approach, Flannery O'Connor tries to show that the problems of the Misfit are related to the trauma he underwent in childhood. In addition, Flannery O'Connor uses the characters in the story to express her unconscious believes and thoughts on how she perceives life. She does this by explaining their detestable behaviors in a negative way, which ultimately leads to their failures. In this regard, Flannery O'Connor represents her loneliness emotions and religious believes through the dialogues of experiences of the characters and self-absorption.
Flannery O'Connor expresses her repressed feelings about life because she was brought up in a religious setting. She is strongly opposed to the materialistic nature of the society. The story “A Good Man is hard to find” is significantly related to the hardships of Flannery O'Connor’s father death. In this case, after th...