13 April 2003 23:51
me speaking recently on the subject of "Good Country People" by Flannery O'ConnorWell then, that was an interesting story [3], completely unlike what I was expecting from the title. I found the story to be sordid and depressing. If literature is supposed to teach us about ourselves, then I learned things I’d rather not know.
What’s the point of the story? How appearances can be deceiving? If that’s all there is to it, then it’s a shame O’Connor soiled a nice comfortable title like “Good Country People” with such a thoroughly useless and degrading attempt at writing. Maybe she held some deep seated resentment against such people, but I’m not so keen about her spreading such resentment around….
“We’re all damned, but some of us have taken off our blindfolds and see that there is nothing to see. It’s a kind of salvation.”
In some cases (such as with this story), it is better to be content and wearing a blindfold. Others may look at me in contempt for my “foolish” behaviour, but while they’re busy feeling contemptuous (a slimy feeling at best), I am busy feeling happily content.
But having read the story, I can no longer be happy in my ignorance. Instead, with a nauseous stomach I can only say, “Yech, I wish I hadn’t read that.”
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