Reflections on the works of Flannery O’Connor
The 20th century American writer and daughter of the South Flannery O’Connor provides in her stories a rich and fertile source of material for Gil Bailie in his work exploring the connection between the theory of René Girard and the Gospel.
“When she died, Thomas Merton said of Flannery O’Connor that, while other people were comparing her to Hemingway he thought she should be compared to Sophocles.”
Revelation
Gil Bailie explores Flannery O’Connor’s short story Revelation.
A Good Man is Hard to Find
In Gil Bailie’s 1989 presentation on the Flannery O’Connor story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the theme of Western culture’s attenuated ability to provide a bulwark against humanity’s most destructive forces is explored. As the West moves ever closer in its embrace of Enlightenment rationalism as the foundation of its principles and further from the Christian realism regarding human nature a high price is paid. Many of the modern world’s politically correct psychological nostrums for human perversity are highlighted by O’Connor and shown to fail in the face of evil.
The Displaced Person
This two part presentation was part of a series entitled “Crucial Choice” in which Gil Bailie compared the Isak Dineson short story, Babette’s Feast, and Flannery O’Connor’s The Displaced Person exploring the sacramental and sacrifical movements in the stories.
Reflections on the Sacrament of Confirmation:
Parker’s Back & The Artificial Nigger
Gil Bailie explores two short stories by Flannery O’Connor, Parker’s Back and The Artificial Nigger, as a way to see the sacrament of confirmation – the Christian initiation into the mature responsibilities of spiritual and social life – in a new light.
