• The Barber Flannery O'connor Pdf
• The Barber Flannery O'connor Pdf
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• The Barber Flannery O'connor Summary

The Barber by Flannery O’Connor, 1948 The magic trick: Perfectly highlighting the peculiar speech patterns of the setting Well, it’s good to know that infuriatingly pointless political arguments didn’t start with social media. Jan 17, 2018 Flannery O’Connor takes your latest Facebook fight and places it in a 1940s barber shop. It’s one of her grad school stories, and you can see that it’s tentative in places where a decade later she would kick in the door. (Rayber punches the barber in the final scene? In this next short story by Flannery O’Connor, the narrator brings us into a barber shop, where two (and more) men, discuss who they will vote for in “the Democratic White Primary” (p. 15) Our main character, Rayber, wants to vote for Darmon, the candidate that supports African American equality.

The Violent Bear It Away is a 1960 novel by American author Flannery O'Connor. It is the second and final novel that she published. The first chapter was originally published as the story 'You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead' in the journal New World Writing.^[1] The novel tells the story of Francis Marion Tarwater, a fourteen-year-old boy who is trying to escape the destiny his uncle has prescribed for him: the life of a prophet. Like most of O'Connor's stories, the novel is filled with Catholic themes and dark images, making it a classic example of Southern Gothic literature.

Plot summary[edit]

Mason Tarwater, an outspoken evangelist and self-ordained prophet, dies many years after kidnapping his great-nephew Francis, raising him in a backwoods cabin and preparing him to someday take his place as a prophet. Prior to his death, Mason asked the now-teenaged Francis to give him a proper Christian burial with a cross marking the grave so that his body would be resurrected on Judgment Day. Francis starts to dig the grave but suddenly hears a 'Voice' in his head telling him to forget about the old man. Francis obeys and gets drunk instead. When Francis wakes from his drunken sleep, he sets the cabin on fire with his great-uncle's body still inside. He leaves for the city and gets a ride from a salesman, who drops him off at his Uncle Rayber's house.

Rayber, a well-educated schoolteacher, is amazed to see young Francis, whom he had long ago given up on after his kidnapping by Mason. Francis is also greeted at the door by Rayber's young son Bishop, who (it is implied) has Down syndrome and low intelligence. Bishop is Rayber's child with Bernice Bishop, a meddlesome social worker whom Mason had referred to as 'the welfare woman'. The old man had previously told Francis that Bernice was much older than Rayber and only able to give him one disabled child, and that God had mercy on the child by making him 'dim-witted', which was the only way to protect him from his evil parents. Mason had commissioned Francis to baptize Bishop at some point, in order to save the little boy's soul. Due to this history, Francis is immediately put on edge when confronted with Bishop, but decides to stay with his uncle anyway. Francis does not think of Bishop as a human being and finds him repulsive.

The three begin to live together as a family for a while, and Rayber is excited to have his nephew back in order to raise him as a normal boy and provide him with a proper education. However, Francis resists his uncle's attempts at secular reform very much the same way he resisted Mason's attempts at religious reform. Rayber understands what Francis is going through, as he himself had been kidnapped as a child by Mason, but Rayber's father had managed to rescued him.

After many attempts by Rayber to 'civilize' the reluctant Tarwater, and many attempts by Tarwater to figure out his true destiny (either as a prophet, which was his great-uncle's wish, or as an enlightened, educated modern man, which is his uncle Rayber's wish), Rayber devises a plan to take Tarwater back to the farm where Tarwater had been raised in the hope that confronting his past will allow him to leave it behind. Under the guise of taking the two boys out to a country lodge to go fishing, Rayber finally confronts Tarwater, telling him that he must accept an ordinary life and ignore the superstitious Christian upbringing and the false destiny with which his great-uncle has corrupted him. Tarwater, however, is not so easily convinced. While at the lodge, he again hears the 'Voice' (the devil) who tells Tarwater to forsake his great-uncle's command to baptize Bishop and to drown the boy instead. One evening, Tarwater takes Bishop out on a boat to the middle of the lake, with Rayber's reluctant blessing. Rayber cannot see them on the lake but can still hear their voices. Tarwater ends up drowning Bishop while at the same time baptizing the boy, thereby fulfilling both destinies simultaneously. Rayber realizes what has happened and faints, not out of fear for his son's life, but because he feels nothing at his son's death.

Tarwater runs away into the woods and tries to make his way back to his great-uncle's house to confront his demons once and for all. He eventually hitches a ride with another man, who entices Tarwater to get drunk. Tarwater takes the man's offer and passes out, eventually waking up naked against a tree with his clothes neatly folded beside him. He dresses hurriedly and sets fire to the area.

Burning his way through the forest, Tarwater finally makes his way back to Powderhead, his great-uncle's old farm, where he finds the cabin has burned to the ground. Tarwater had assumed that his great-uncle had been burned up with it, but Buford, a black man who lived nearby, had actually rescued old Mason Tarwater's body from the house while Tarwater was drunk at the beginning of the novel, and gave the old man a proper Christian burial just as he had requested. Tarwater realizes that his great-uncle's two main requests (that he be given a proper burial and that Tarwater's nephew Bishop be baptized) have been realized, which convinces Tarwater that he can no longer run away from his calling to be a prophet. The story ends with Tarwater heading toward the city to fulfill his calling to 'Go warn the children of God of the terrible speed of mercy.'

Title[edit]

The novel's title is taken from a verse of the Douay Bible:

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.

There are various explanations of the meaning of this verse. The most accepted explanation is that violence constantly attacks God and heaven and that only those who are 'violent with the love of God' can bear heaven away. This is seen when Tarwater drowns Bishop. He commits a violent act, but the 'accidental' baptism is a powerful act of violent love for God—which bears away the crime of murder.^[2]

Another possible meaning is that both secularism and fundamentalism (that is, the Protestant functioning outside of the Roman Catholic Church) are heresy, which blinds their adherents to God's truth. When God's grace comes into contact with an errant life, a violent revelation occurs. Falsehood and heresy are burnt off, and the sinner then sees the truth clearly. Those who suffer this spiritual violence bear the kingdom of God with them as they go through the world.^[3]

Characters[edit]

• Francis Marion Tarwater: The protagonist of the story. Kidnapped by his great-uncle at a young age, he has been raised under the single-minded premise that his destiny is to become a prophet. At first greatly frustrated by the notion of being forced to subscribe to a pre-ordained fate, he vows to do anything he can to prevent it from happening. Francis does not fit the role of a hero, strictly speaking, but is the central figure in the novel.
• Rayber: The main antagonist of the story. He is a staunchly anti-religious schoolteacher and lives a secular lifestyle. He is the uncle of Tarwater and the father of Bishop. He tries to protect Tarwater and Bishop from baptism and the old man's corrupting influence, but ultimately fails.
• Bishop: An intellectually disabled child who is the son of Rayber and the cousin of Tarwater. Tarwater was raised with the belief that it is his destiny to baptize Bishop, whereas Rayber struggles to prevent this from happening.
• Mason Tarwater: The great-uncle of Tarwater and Bishop and the uncle of Rayber. A fanatically religious self-ordained prophet, he raised Tarwater to follow in his footsteps. His death at the beginning of the novel spurs Tarwater's quest of denial and redemption.
• The 'friend': A voice in Tarwater's head representing rational, secular thinking, which he has been trained throughout his childhood to ignore. In her letters, O'Connor confirmed that this 'friend' is Satan himself.^[4]:367
• The rapist: A passing motorist who offers Tarwater a ride near the end of the novel. It is strongly implied that he rapes and robs Tarwater, an act that ultimately brings Tarwater closer to his destiny. O'Connor also confirmed in her letters that the devil becomes physically 'actualized in the man who gives Tarwater the lift toward the end.'^[4]:375

Major themes[edit]

Flannery O'Connor was a devout Catholic, and The Violent Bear It Away reflects her religious beliefs. It is filled with religious imagery and themes, ranging from the power of passion to the dominance of destiny.

The most obvious of the novel's themes is the idea that destiny and religion will dominate over the secular. O'Connor illustrates this well, demonstrating the power of Tarwater's destiny as it dominates every obstacle in its way; the drowning of Bishop is transformed to a baptism, Tarwater's rape turns to revelation, and the secular Rayber fails in every way.^{[5][page needed]} The importance of passion is also linked with the power of religion. Tarwater is filled with passion; Rayber suppresses his. Thus, Tarwater succeeds and is redeemed, and Rayber is ultimately destroyed. This is shown when Bishop is killed; when he realizes that he has no love for his son, Rayber collapses.^{[5][page needed]}

The idea that everything that destroys also creates is evident as well. Nearly every symbol and character in the book pulls Tarwater away from his destiny but also pushes him back. Rayber nearly succeeds in secularizing Tarwater, but he ultimately brings the boy back to Powderhead. The drowning of Bishop, the ultimate secular act, nearly destroys Tarwater's destiny, but the simultaneous baptism redeems it. Fire both destroys Powderhead and burns Tarwater's eyes clean. Water both drowns and baptizes. Everything that destroys, redeems.^{[6][page needed]}

James Cantrell feels that O'Connor's Irish heritage is central to the novel, serving as the foundation of her exploration of the conflicts between Christ and secularism in America. He says, for example, the surname 'Tarwater' is completely understood only by focusing on Irish culture and history.^[7]

One possible reading of the novel offers cautionary tale about religious anti-intellectualism. Old Mason Tarwater epitomizes faith coupled with anti-intellectualism and spiritual pride, which brings about the whole series of unfortunate events depicted in the book. Rayber is a basically moral person, but abashed by the closed-minded and anti-intellectual approach to religion that was infused in is childhood draws him towards atheism. Had he actually employed his efforts to find rational reasons for Christian faith, he would find no lack of evidential support, as Christianity has a rich intellectual tradition. Thus Rayber would probably have become a true Christian, himself baptising Bishop, perhaps coming to terms with his fanatical uncle, and educating his nephew both in science and in faith, which are complementary.

References[edit]

1. ^O'Connor, Flannery (October 1955). 'You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead'. New World Writing. Vol. 8.
2. ^Peters, Jason (July 31, 2006). 'The Kripke Center'. Journal of Religion and Society. 7 (2005).
3. ^Gerald, Kelly S. (2013) [Originally published 2004]. 'The Violent Bear It Away'. New Georgia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
4. ^ ^abO'Connor, Flannery (1979). Fitzgerald, Sally (ed.). The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN9780374521042.
5. ^ ^abAsals, Frederick (1982). Flannery O'Connor: The Imagination of Extremity. University of Georgia Press.
6. ^Baumgaertner, Jill P. (1988). Flannery O'Connor: A Proper Scaring. Wheaton, Illinois: Harold Shaws Publishers.
7. ^How Celtic Culture Invented Southern Literature, pp. 209–225.

External links[edit]

• The Violent Bear It Away at Faded Page (Canada)

In this next short story by Flannery O’Connor, the narrator brings us into a barber shop, where two (and more) men, discuss who they will vote for in “the Democratic White Primary” (p. 15)

Our main character, Rayber, wants to vote for Darmon, the candidate that supports African American equality. On the other side, Joe, the Barber, wants to vote for Hawkson, a man directly opposed to the rights of African Americans.

This whole story narrates the three visits to the barber shop that Rayber makes (to get shaved). They discuss politics all three times. Before the last visit, Rayber prepares an argument, reasons to vote for Darmon.

We see Raybor read this argument to his philosophical friend, Jacobs, a student.

In the afternoon he took it around to Jacob’s office. Blakeley was there but he left. Rayber read the paper to Jacobs.

“Well,” Jacobs said, “so what? What do you call yourself doing?” He had been jotting figures down on a record sheet all the time Rayber was reading.

Rayber wondered if he were busy. “Defending myself against barbers,” he said. “You ever tried to argue with a barber?”

“I never argue,” Jacobs said.

The Barber Flannery O'connor Pdf

“That’s because you don’t know this kind of ignorance,” Rayber explained. “You’ve never experienced it.”

Jacobs snorted. “Oh yes I have,” he said.

“What happened?”

“I never argue.”

“But you know you’re right,” Rayber persisted.

The Barber Flannery O'connor Pdf

“I never argue.” (pp. 21-22)

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Rayber is trying to argue with these barbers, and this desire seems devoid of any sort of care or compassion. It is polemic, attacking, selfish. But we agree with Rayber on the mere facts of politics (hopefully, right?). Nevertheless, we don’t agree with his tactics. He has right meaning but wrong manner. We see him “argue” in the last two pages of the story.

Rayber felt as if he were fighting his way out of a net. They were over him with their red faces grinning. He heard the words drag out – “Well, the way I see it, men elect…” He felt them pull out of his mouth like freight cars, jangling, backing up on each other, grating to a halt, sliding, clinching back, jarring, and then suddenly stopping as roughly as they had begun. It was over. Rayber was jarred that it was over so soon. For a second – as if they were expecting him to go on – no one said anything. (p. 24)

The Barber Flannery O'connor Summary

The men are completely unaffected by Rayber’s speech. Even though arguments are helpful. And it’s not as if an argument has never persuaded someone. However, it is worthless to expect an argument to be able to change someone’s mind. Arguments can, but don’t always affect people. And Rayber does all of this without much sense of compassion. That is what I find missing. If only Rayber could have loved Joe, Roy, and the others in their racism, with the hopes of bringing them out of that wrong thinking. But that is not how Rayber approaches the situation.