ENGL 4310

I thoroughly enjoyed O'Connor's Writing Short Stories Essay, she is so down to earth and hilarious. While reading I kept the question "Does O'Connor describe the things she does in her own writing?" in the back of my mind. She stresses that fiction writing is a matter of showing things rather than a matter of saying things. I believe wholeheartedly that her writing is faithful to what she stressed, at least upon this point. I am captivated by O'Connor's imagery. In every story there are visual pictures painted for us that neither have, nor necessitate an explanation. For example, Parker's Back's image of the whipped and beaten Christ portrayed on his back under the tree; The vivid picture of Norton throwing up at the beginning of The lame shall Enter First; The mirror images of characters presented in Everything that Rises must Converge and The Artificial Nigger. I could go on and on and there are often multiple images in a single story. I've begun, also, to notice reoccurring images in some of her stories or echos, if you will, of the same image. Again, like in The Lame Shall Enter First where we see Norton eating garbage while his father describes seeing Johnson eating garbage. I am always in awe of the visual stimulation O'Connor provides in her stories. The visions she describes her characters as having literally become a vision for the reader and I believe that is what captivates, at least me as a reader.
I can't help but look at Porter as well in this regard. Some of her stories that speak to me most, He, are pictures painted for us, characters and lives described with no explanation necessary. Two other comments struck me in her article. First, that we, as readers ourselves, may not be able to describe the connections we've made in the story: "He may not even know that he makes the connection, but the connection is there nevertheless and it has its effect on him." When we do put words to that connection, it is long after we have experienced the effect. Second, I liked her comment that a short story must be still complete and that a complete story is "one in which the action fully illuminates the meaning." Again, I believe she accomplishes this. It is through her imagery and vision that we attain the must meaning in her stories.