OConnor’s Greenleaf :: Flannery OConnor Greenleaf Essays

OConnors GreenleafOConnors story, Greenleaf, is a dramatic and violent exposition of the workings of grace. The story takes its title from the name of a family who work on the prop of a Mrs May. Throughout the story, contrasts are built up between Mrs Mays children, who havent been terribly successful, and Mrs Greenleafs children, who somehow seem to have succeeded even though Mrs May regards them as really low down on the social scale. Mrs Greenleaf becomes the subject of some satire in the story in terms of her fundamentalist Christianity. For example, there is an instance in which Mrs May comes across Mrs Greenleaf sprawled on her hands and knees on the brass of the road with her head down Mrs Greenleaf she shrilled, whats happened? Mrs Greenleaf raised her head. Her face was a patchwork of dirt and divide and her small eyes, the colour of two field peas, were red-rimmed and swollen, but her expression was composed as a darndogs. She swayed back and forth on her hands and kne es and groaned, Jesus, Jesus. (31)Mrs May, of course, doesnt the like this very much and feels that Mrs Greenleaf is, so to speak, over the top. As we are told She was a good Christian woman with a large respect for religion, though she did not, of course, moot any of it was true. What is the matter with you? she asked sharply. (31)We feel in the story that while OConnor doesnt approve of Mrs Mays lack of any real Christian enliven, she probably doesnt approve of Mrs Greenleafs excess of spirit either. The end of the story focuses on a bull which keeps breaking into Mrs Mays property. This bull takes on a symbolic function when we find Mrs May pursuing the bull trying to get it off her property She looked back and saw that the bull, his head lowered, was racing toward her. She remained perfectly still, not in fright, but in a freeze unbelief. She stared at the violent black streak bounding toward her as if she had no sense of distance, as if she could not decide at once what his intention was, and the bull had hide his head in her lap, like a wild tormented lover, before her expression changed. One of his horns sank until it pierced her heart and the other curved around her side and held her in an unbreakable grip.