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Flannery O'Conner and the Importance of Character

Ironically she was the first dressed in the car waiting to go and was wearing dress clothes "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady"." (O'Connor 421). It was as if she was prepared or knew what was going to happen in the future. In real life people are taught to follow their gut instinct or their first instinct and this would have been beneficial for the family.
             Although the characters in this story had realistic personalities and actions, there are also some underlying religious aspects throughout the story. The grandmother who pictures herself as a lady with good morals is in fact a person who lies to her grandchildren, manipulates her son, and has no self awareness. This would make her unworthy of God's grace. She casts judgment on others and instructs them on how to live when in a crisis she was weak. O'Connor demonstrates her weakness when she asks Misfit to pray because of her inability to do so. Misfit demonstrates the doubt often found in religion when they are talking about the resurrection of Jesus and he states "if I had been there I would have known and I wouldn't be like I am now " (O'Conner 430). .
             Other religious references can be noted with June Star and John Wesley. The grandchildren are like grandmother's conscience; the angel and the devil on her shoulder. .
             During the drive grandmother points out a cotton field with "five or six graves in it " which is the fate of her family. The family then meets Red Sammy at the restaurant. His name gives the idea of death or warning. Red Sammy was like a prophet when he was talking to the grandmother about trust becoming an issue among people and he used the example of the two men in the Chrysler. In reality he was a warning to the family. The restaurant he owned is described and could be compared to the room for the Last Supper. O'Connor even went so far as to add the letter "b"" in Toombsboro to add emphasis to a tomb and the family's fate.


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