During the time of Flannery O’Connor, many American Catholics were accused of suffering from “parochial aesthetics” and “cultural insularity.” Though, O’Connor would be one to agree this is a fair accusation. Furthermore, one of Flannery O’Connor’s colleagues at a conference claimed Catholic writers are restricted by their faith because they too suffer from these negative traits, therefore they are unable to be true fiction writers. However, O’Connor argues, “What Mr. Wylie contends is that the Catholic writer, because he believes in certain defined mysteries, cannot, by the nature of things, see straight; and this contention, in effect, is not very different from that made by Catholics who declare that whatever the Catholic writer can see,…show more content… Wylie,” (O’Connor 145). O’Connor felt this is the complete opposite direction the Catholic writer should take. He or she should never prohibit their outlook on life just because it might contradict their beliefs.
To disprove Wylie’s contention, O’Connor believed sacramentality is crucial for the Catholic Writer. For one, she thought the Catholic novelist’s goal should be to help the reader encounter God, but in order to do this, he or she must first encounter God themselves through sacramentality. Even more, through being sacramental by noticing and recognizing God’s grace, one will be able to see and interpret this grace more deeply. A Catholic writer who is sacramental will also be able to realize His grace isn’t always beautiful, and in O’Connor’s writing, often times, the grace can be unpleasant. Consequently, sacramentality is crucial in order to truly see the deep meaning of this grace. In Mystery and Manners, O’Connor writes, “a dimension taken away is one thing, a dimension added is another,” (O’Connor 150). Sacramentality allows the Catholic writer to see…show more content… Because they are both so complex, it is for those who are willing to try and understand them. Yet, when someone does decide to understand faith or art, humility is instrumental (O’Connor 189). O’Connor vividly explains, “Ignorance is excusable when it is born like a cross, but when it is wielded like an ax, and with moral indignation, then it becomes something else indeed,” (O’Connor 190). Compared to a wielded ax, according to O’Connor, it isn’t okay when people are aware of their “cultural insularity” and “parochial aesthetic” and choose to do nothing about them. Most people do have at least some fault of the two negative traits, thus it is excusable when he or she is aware of them and chooses to try and get rid of them. This is the image Flannery O’Connor portrays of the ignorance weighing down like the cross did for Jesus. To get rid of this ignorance, humility is the right direction, but the approach is different than one might expect. Often times, humility is described as lowering oneself or realizing one’s humanity and God’s mystery. Although this is important, Flannery O’Connor suggests a different direction of humility. She suggests it is less about lowering oneself, and more about pushing harder to challenge the narrow mind. Once we can continue to test our closed
