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Lake Oconee News
Friday, September 8,2017
Dr. Bruce Gentry addresses a large audience at the Georgia Writers Museum on "Understanding O'Connor and Her Writings."
James Murdock/Staff
O’Connor’s literary work adds to regional heritage
By James Murdock
news@lakeoconeenews.us
A devout Roman Catholic,
American author Mary
Flannery O’Connor’s faith
was reflected often through
her stories. Still, she was commonly
misunderstood, and sometimes
controversial, because her writings often
revolved around gruesome situations
and troublesome characters.
She was primarily con- most of her fans today as the
cerned with questions of founder of a writing style
morality and confronted known simply as “Southern
many of the injustices of her Gothic.”
time with a sly and searing A large group of those
sense of humor. fans gathered on Sunday,
Flannery is known by Aug. 27, at the Georgia
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Beyond the wall of books produced by Georgia writers, guests gather and are seated
to hear Dr. Bruce Gentry speak on the life and writings of Flannery O'Connor.
Writers Museum in Eaton-
ton to celebrate her legacy
by listening to a lecture
from Dr. Bruce Gentry, a
Flannery scholar and pro
fessor at Georgia College, on
“Understanding O’Connor
and Her Writings.”
“This kind of thing allows
people to get a better under
standing of the literary
heritage of the region,” Jack
Shinneman, the visionary
and founder of the writers
museum, said about the lec
ture. “The more people can
hear about it, the better edu
cated they will be as to its
cultural importance — to its
importance as our heritage.”
George Heiring, the muse
um’s president, added, “This
program is to honor the fact
that there is a rich literary
soil in this part of Georgia,
a soil that has grown a leg
acy not just unique for this
place, but nationally — we
want to be aware of that.”
O’Connor is one of the
three authors exhibited
permanently in the writers
museum; the other two are
Joel Chandler Harris and
Alice Walker. O’Connor was
born in Savannah in 1925,
although she spent most of
her life living on her fam
ily’s farm in Milledgeville,
known today as Andalusia.
She attended Peabody High
School and Georgia State
College for Women (now
Georgia College and State
University) before being
accepted into the presti
gious Iowa Writer’s Work
shop at the University of
Iowa in 1946.
In 1952, having every
intention to continue her
extensive travels and to
nourish her blossoming lit
erary career, she was diag
nosed with lupus and chose
to return home to Milled
geville. There, she spent the
next 12 years becoming one
of the most prominent writ
ers to ever stem from the
south and a cornerstone of
American literature.
By the time of her death at
age 39, O’Connor had pub
lished two novels, 32 short
stories and numerous essays
and reviews. Her posthu
mously published Complete
Stories won the National
Book Award for Fiction in
1972.
Dr. Gentry began the talk
by discussing some of the
lesser-know circumstances
of Flannery’s life — that she
always had an apparent ten
sion with her mother (who
was consistently trying to
get Flannery to behave like
a proper Southern lady)
and that much of that ten
sion came out through her
writing in the form of her
attacking the debutant,
sugar-coated lifestyle.
Flannery was direct and
believed in living her life
without being too showy
or overly composed. She
confronted the racism and
materialism of her time as
being contradictions to a
truly religious life. Still, she
always looked for uplifting
qualities in even the most
contemptible individuals—
she was always searching
for salvation, Gentry said.
Also, she was not
unaware of her own faults
and criticized her own
shortcomings by having
some of her most dis
traught characters repre
sent herself.
Gentry also took the
time to carefully dissect
the meaning behind two
of Flannery’s most popular
stories, “A Good Man is
Hard to Find” and “Good
Country People.” Both sto
ries are set in middle Geor
gia, contain deep religious
and social symbolism, and
tell tales of things going
terribly wrong for seem
ingly normal people.
At the end of the lecture,
Gentry took questions from
the audience on the life and
works of Flannery and sev
eral discussions ensued.
Gentry described the
impact Flannery’s message
has made on his own life.
“She’s constantly teach
ing me not to be a snob — if
I think there is someone in
one of her stories that I am
so much better than, that
story will usually expose
my own ignorance,” he
said, adding, “and that is
the beauty in her writing.
She is showing us the work
we have cut out for us to
make a better society.”
Andalusia, the home of
O’Connor, recently was
gifted to the Georgia Col
lege and State University
Foundation. It is currently
under a remodeling but
will soon be reopened to
the public.
The Georgia Writers
Museum is located at 109 S.
Jefferson Street, Eatonton.
Call 706-991-5119 or visit
georgiawritersmuseum.
com for more information.
Saturday, September 16th
General Admission 1:00pm- 5:00pm
General Admission 6:00pm til Closing
Regular general admission
Special wristband prices
for September 16th
1:00 p.m. til 5:00 p.m. $15
or all day pass $22
After 6 p.m. wristbands will be $20
