O'Connor and the South

Reading Flannery O’Connor’s writing makes it apparent she comes from the southern parts of the United States. The lifestyle found in the old south has weaved its way through her short stories: “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Revelation,” and “Parker’s Back.” To start off with, the setting of her stories do no take place in a state above Tennessee. Each story radiates the feeling of being in the country. In “Parker’s Back” and “Revelation,” the main characters work on a farm while in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the characters mainly have to drive through Georgia to get to Florida.
It is not only the settings of the stories that gives away O’Connor is from the south. Above anything else, it is her characters that let the audience know where her heritage lies. All of her characters would seem out of place if you were to put them somewhere like California or Massachusetts. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” consists of a family with the grumpy grandmother who lives with her son. The grandmother is always reminiscing about the good old days in Tennessee. “Revelation” shows the typical prejudices a person could have against the “types” of people who live in the southern regions. The wife in the story did nothing but thank the Lord she was who she was and not a piece of white trash or a disgraced black woman. “Parker’s Back” consists of a black man trying to find his way in the world. He is continuously searching when he begins courting a girl. He courts her by bringing a basket of fruit from the farm he works. He brings her things such as peaches, a fruit that symbolizes the south.