Literary Analysis Essay of Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Lame Shall Enter First’
Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Lame Shall Enter First’ is a short story that examines the life of a skeptic and primarily uses reason to advance choices and decision surrounding life. The story is particularly told from the vantage point of Sheppard and offers readers with the ability to understand his relationship with his son Norton and the fascination with Rufus’ character. Within the story, the contrasting belief system of Norton and Sheppard makes their relationship difficult. This further complicates with the entry of Rufus. Altogether, these bring forward different issues surrounding family life and perspectives surrounding good and evil.
The most evident theme depicted by O’Connor in this story comes from the duality that occurs in the character’s mindset. Here, issues related to good versus evil as well as faith vs. reason are highlighted in the text. By using these patterns, the author is able to convey the opinions and ideals of Sheppard, Rufus and Norton in understanding the realities happening around them. The ability of O’Connor to advance these distinctions between characters provides the clash of ideals that define insights surrounding family, death and religious connections (Sparrow 1). For instance, Sheppard is portrayed someone to be someone who pursues good and advocates the use of reason while Rufus is evil and continues to advance his religious faith. Though this may seem to be the case, O’Connor turns things around in the end as Sheppard realizes that his lack of faith ultimately led to his demise because of his inability to understand the existing difference between good and evil.
Another important theme emphasized by O’Connor in this short story reflects the contrasting features between selfishness and compassion. Arguably, these different values remain to be shown among the characters. For instance, the perception of Sheppard of his son is someone who is selfish because of his continued interest in himself (O’Connor 1). On the other hand, Sheppard considers himself as compassionate because of his inclination to do good things for the benefit of the people around him. However, O’Connor provides a criticism for this perspective as he juxtaposes the action of Sheppard as the actions he’s committed remains to be selfish and focused mainly on his self-vested interests while the actions of Rufus, in the end allows readers to see goodness in his choices.
Lastly, the use of faith and how it intersects with reason allows O’Connor to convey a deeper meaning to his readers. Based on the portrayal of characters, it gives the impression on how faith is necessary in order to determine which is right or wrong. Sometimes, relying on reason alone is not enough to justify specific actions or decisions. Based on the story of Sheppard, he learned this the hard way when he lost his son Norton due to suicide. In particular, the inability of Sheppard to recognize the value of material things as nothing more than objects further distanced the relationship with his son (Wheeler 1). All these reinforce the argument in support of O’Connor surrounding the significance of familial relationships and how religion plays a critical feature in the promotion of values and what is morally right or wrong.
Overall, O’Connor’s piece remains to depict the contrasting ideologies and values of Sheppard compared to other characters. By allowing readers to recognize these differing views, he is able to provide insights surrounding the relevance of each approach and the weaknesses it created in the end. By showcasing an ironic twist in the ending, O’Connor is able to highlight his personal perspective surrounding the interaction between faith and reason. It emphasizes how operating too much reason undermines the ability of individuals to pursue morally sound decisions due to limitations in defining the difference between good and evil.
Works Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. ‘The Lame Shall Enter First’ The Complete Stories. 2012. Web. Accessed 23 August 2014.
Sparrow, Stephen. ‘No Hell, No Dignity, No Hope: A Stroll Through Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Lame Shall Enter First” Media Specialist.org, 2001. Web. Accessed 23 August 2014.
Wheeler, Barbara. ‘Flannery O’Connor, Women and the Home’ Dappled Things, 2013. Web. Accessed 23 August 2014.
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