An Analysis Of Flannery O'connor's Illness Narrative

Flannery O'Connor is one of the most talented woman writers in American literature of the 20 th century.She has been awarded the National Book Award and the O.Henry Award for three times,and is rated as one of the most prominent southern American writers since William Faulkner.Characterized by grotesque and Gothic style,illness narrative is an important medium to convey her ideas on social issues.Based on her own experience of chronic illness and observation on country folks,she gives an account of life with enduring sufferings and calls for better understanding of the ill.From the perspective of illness narrative,combined with theory related to aesthetics and ethics,this thesis aims at exploring the underlying meaning of the freaky characters and grotesque plot so as to interpret her real intention concealed in chaos.This thesis consists of three parts: introduction,main body,and conclusion.In introduction,essential background information of this research is provided.In main body,chapter one deals with the general features of illness narrative in O'Connor's short stories.Illness depicted in her works tends to be chronic and incurable.This chapter discuss how illness functions as promoter of the storyline by analyzing how the structural confrontation is constructed and how the conversion of images is accomplished.Chapter two is concerned with the metaphorical meaning of illness narrative.In this chapter,three types of illness with their implications are discussed.To understand O'Connor's short stories,physical disability,mental disorders,and sensory diseases such as blindness,deafness,and mute must be well analyzed.In chapter three,the ethical choices reflected through illness narrative is studied.Illness,with its inexorable power,will bring shadow of sufferings and death to an individual.This chapter focuses on O'Connor's attitude toward both the ill and the healthy by studying how the ill should face lifelong misfortune and how the healthy should face others' tragedy.Besides,this part also seeks to interpret her view of salvation and pain.In conclusion,the theoretical and practical significance of studying O'Connor's works from the perspective of disease narrative is summarized.On the one hand,understanding disability,deformity,and disease helps to understand the real intention concealed in the grotesque plot;On the other hand,by analyzing illness narrative,it is helpful to interpret the humanitarian value reflected in O'Connor's works.