ENGL 4310

Sara's The Ten Commandments was a good overview of the stories for me. I was also intrigued by the fact that there is very little adultery found in either O'Connor's or Porter's stories. I agree with Sara's idea that perhaps it isn't only the physical act of having sex with another person besides your spouse that is considered to be adultery. It is also very likely that replacing your spouse with something else (religion as in Parker's Back for Sarah Ruth for just one example) is also considered adulterous. Though, I wonder if that works the same way as it does for "thou shalt have no other god before me" commandment.

I have done a bit of research on Porter and I read somewhere (though I'm not so sure how reliable of a source it was because I don't remember exactly where it was, but I think it might have been some silly website) that Porter got married once but "was so afraid of sex that the marriage was never consummated" (I seem to remember the words better than the website). I wonder if this "fear of sex" had something to do with the fact that it is mentioned so little in Porter's stories...then again, I don't know if that information is true or if someone just made it up for kicks and giggles. I have no idea why O'Connor would not put it in her stories other than maybe being a Christian woman means that you don't talk about sex (I know many people who are so "religious" that they would never dare to speak of sex, not even to explain to their children what it is). I wonder if being religious meant, to these two particular authors, that talking about sex is not acceptable. And to write about it? Oh no, that would be unthinkable!

the more I think about this idea, the more I am drawn to it. I know that being religious does not necessarily mean that you will be "prudish," but there are many who seem to think the two go hand in hand. Perhaps it did in these two cases, which is why there is so little talk of adultery. Perhaps the one sin we all need to brush under the rug. Do you think?