摘 要

《好人难寻》是弗兰纳里·奥康纳的一部短篇小说集。小说集中的很多故事都和宗教有关，其主题是揭示人类的贪婪本性和宗教信仰的缺失，其中大多数的故事中都包含了不和谐的暴力血腥场面。短篇集中的主角是那些宗教意识淡薄，背弃上帝的人，他们通常都在死亡的结局中反省自己，接受上帝的恩德，得到上帝的救赎。这部小说集里共有十篇短篇小说。本文主要选取小说集中的《好人难寻》和《善良的乡下人》两篇短篇小说，通过对有象征意义的事物及人物的分析来揭示奥康纳小说中的宗教危机和宗教救赎的主题。

关键词： 弗兰纳里·奥康纳；象征意义的事物；人物；宗教危机；宗教救赎

Contents

1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration...........................................................................................................2

2.1 A brief introduction of two short stories and O’Connor’ s religious belief..............................................................................................................................2

2.1.1 A brief introduction of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People”...........................................................................................................................3

2.1.2 A brief introduction of O’Connor’ s religious belief.............................................3

2.2 Symbolic objects......................................................................................................5

2.2.1 Symbolic objects in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”............................................5

2.2.2 Symbolic objects in “Good Country People”........................................................8

• 1. Symbolic characters................................................................................................10

2.3.1 Symbolic male intruders......................................................................................10

2.3.2 Symbolic female victims.....................................................................................13

1. Conclusion...............................................................................................................16

Works cited...................................................................................................................17

Bibliography.................................................................................................................18

An Analysis of Symbols in Flannery O’Connor’ s A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

1. Introduction

Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American writer and essayist. She was an important spokeswoman in American literature. In her short life, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a lot of reviews and commentaries. As an American southern writer, she often wrote in a gothic style and created many grotesque characters. O'Connor' s writing also reflected her own Roman Catholic faith and her thoughts about morality and ethics. Her Complete Stories won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction and was named the "Best of the National Book Awards" by internet visitors in 2009. Unfortunately, she died of systemic lupus erythematosus at the age of 39. Her death was a great loss in the history of American literature.

According to O'Connor’ s works, her theme is always about her Catholic beliefs through pain, violence, and absurd behaviors in the pursuit of God. Although the settings are grotesque, she tries to portray her characters so that they might be touched by divine grace. O'Connor wrote: “Grace changes us and change is painful.”(O’Connor, Collected Works 28) In her works, the main characters are always selfish, arrogant, and ignorant. However, there is always a moment when the Grace of God will fall on them. The Grace of God means God’s redemption through violence and death. People can be saved by Grace of God only if they believe in God.