Before the Sun Has Set: Retribution in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor
- ISBN-10
- 0820481661
- ISBN-13
- 9780820481661
- Category
- Punishment in literature
- Pages
- 147
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2006
- Publisher
- Peter Lang
- Author
- John Darretta
Description
This detailed analysis of the theme of retribution is a key to understanding the fiction of Flannery O'Connor. An idea central to the Bible, Dante, and Chaucer - one is paid back for the evil one does or for failure to do good - retribution expresses O'Connor's interest as a writer and defines the contour of her achievement as an artist. Within the twenty-year span of her writing career, O'Connor's notion of retribution expanded from her original concept in her first story, «The Geranium, » of retribution as personal and familial, to her final version in her last story, «Judgement Day, » which shows an interest that is eschatological.
