Mary Flannery O'Connor, The Violent Bear It Away

Robert McGill (University of Toronto)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1960

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Flannery O’Connor’s second novel was published in 1960, eight years after her first,

Wise Blood

, and shares its predecessor’s interest in reluctant Southern prophets, violence and the grotesque. The title is taken from the Douay translation of Matthew 11:12, which provides the book’s epigraph: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.” These are Jesus’ words to the multitude, and the themes of baptism, violence and the Bread of Life pervade the novel.

Like many of O’Connor’s stories, The Violent Bear It Away also focuses on antagonistic relationships between adults and children, with the underlying conflict being a battle for the soul. Here the principal player is Francis Marion Tarwater, who has

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1702 words

Citation: McGill, Robert. "The Violent Bear It Away". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 July 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8055, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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