was flannery o'connor a racist?

[mark414]

i really, really don't want this to turn into a flame war...so please don't let it

but i read a book of flannery o'connor short stories a couple years ago and really enjoyed them...though i couldn't figure out if some of her stories condemned southern racism or rather just told it like it was. i have read people arguing both sides on the internet but have yet to find anything decisive...

does anyone know? was she ever interviewed about this? :shrug: i have no idea?

[HEyHEY]

1. Very Irish name - all the trademarks of being a racist

Or at least that's my expereince with my Mom's family

[mark414]

2. haha

at least we're not italians!

[JohnKleeb]

3. thank god for that

or better yet english :D.
KrautMickHunkie 4 evah

[HEyHEY]

4. they don't have the stugast to be Irish

It means standing up to the British

[JohnKleeb]

5. Pssssst I am thinking about changing my name to McKleeb

What do you think ;). Kidding, not really but eh rather Irish than German, no shame in being German though.

[evlbstrd]

7. Finally,

something positive about the Irish!
Sheesh!

[A-Schwarzenegger]

6. YESSSS!!!?!

Mark Twain, too. And Dostoevsky was a fan of motiveless murder.

[RandomKoolzip]

18. And Shakespeare was an anti-Semite.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

21. And Scorcese, man, does he hate Italians...

[MuseRider]

8. I would also like to know that

because I read a large book of her short stories and also loved them. I had the same questions.

[mark414]

9. which one was it?

i read 'everything that rises must converge' and was fascinated by them...so much pain and death and sadness, yet i couldn't put it down.

[MuseRider]

12. I do not remember

it was about 15 years ago. They were dark and very sad but something about them kept me very interested. There is just so much to read out there that I never got back. I am not quite certain why but I seem to really enjoy southern authors. She just seemed to have a way of drawing you in and not letting you out. Faulkner does that to me as well, I carry the weight all the way with him as unpleasant as it is sometimes. Still when I am done I find I have enjoyed the trip.

[Kipepeo]

10. The stories I read of hers I did not consider racist

But It's been a while and my perception has changed since then, so I'd have to reread to offer a fresh opinion.

What I do recall appreciating about her was her portrayal of southern life in all it's goodness and yet Much underlying badness. Dark, is how I remember her stories. No sugar without a lot of salt.

[enigmatic]

11. She wasn't a racist.

She told the south through the eyes of the time; she was one of the great underappriciated writers of the 20th century IMO. "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" is one of the most haunting stories I've ever read:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~DRBR/goodman.html

[Pool Hall Ace]

20. I agree -- I have read that one many times. eom

[peekaloo]

13. I always thought she was honest and quite harsh in her observations

of the South.

Read 'The Artificial Nigger' where she stands racism on its head, or at least the pride/attitude of the main character.

I don't know if she was interviewed that often since she was somewhat the recluse.

[northzax]

14. I wouldn't think so

or not more so than anyone else. The way she pities the woman in "everything that rises" who tries to give the child a penny isn't very flattering to racism.

[Solly Mack]

15. What Alice Walker had to say on the subject

http://www2.ari.net/home/bsabath/941213.html

[tigereye]

19. nice analysis

thanks for posting that.

[Beware the Beast Man]

16. I'd wager a no.

She was pretty keen on exposing the quirkiness and hypocrisy of Southern culture in that point in time. I remember reading "Good Country People" in a lit class in college, and that pretty much summed it up.

[mark414]

17. thanks for the info/input everyone

much appreciated

[deadparrot]

22. I thought "Everything That Rises Must Converge"

was a condemnation of two distinct kinds of racism: the obvious sort (racial slurs and stereotypes), and the not-so-obvious sort (trying to befriend blacks simply because they're black and because your annoying mother is racist).

I don't think "condemning racism" and "telling it like it is" are necessarily opposing values. I think what she depicted was a very real portrait of Southern life and certain peoples' viewpoints at the time, but I also think that she injected her stories with her own feelings.

[Shakespeare]

23. I've never thought so. And she's a thousand times the writer....

...Faulkner tried to be.

I'm a southerner (going MANY generations back), and her unvarnished prose still takes my breath away and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Many of her stores still leave me incredibly uncomfortable (but in that intellectually rewarding kind of way). I LOVE a writer who can do that by being straightforward (instead of gimmicky and manipulative). Faulkner was trying too hard to be Joyce, and ended up obtuse and treacly too much of the time.

O'Connor simply got it and wrote about the south in a stark, modern way no one else has come close to since, with the single exception of Dorothy Allison.