The narrative of grace: A journey toward conversion in the fiction of Flannery O'Connor and C. S. Lewis

The fiction of Flannery O'Connor and C. S. Lewis provides an opportunity to explore how two different narrative techniques depict grace as both a process and a singular, defining moment. Defined as the state of being in relationship with God that results from a process of realizing that we are sinners and consciously choosing to accept God's forgiveness, grace is examined in light of each author's perspective of it. Each view complements the other so that, when taken together, they present a rich picture of the experience of grace. Chapters One and Two pair O'Connor's short story "Revelation" and Lewis's book The Great Divorce in a discussion of how parable and myth underscore the moment of grace. Chapters Three and Four pair Lewis's The Screwtape Letters and O'Connor's "Parker's Back" in an examination of how M. M. Bakhtin's theories of double-voiced discourse and character zones shed light on the journey toward grace.