An Analysis of the First Paragraph of O’Connor’s The Artificial Nigger

An Analysis of the First Paragraph of OConnors The Artificial Nigger ?In The Artificial Nigger, Flannery OConnor commingles trait Christian imagery with themes evocative of her Southern setting. In this essay, a nasty reading of the inaugural paragraph of this legend elucidates the subtle ways in which OConnor sets up these basic themes of redemption and forgiveness. An additional paragraph depart examine the ramifications of this reading on the intertwined racial aspects of the narration, which argon connected by a common theme of scale/servant imagery, which is integral to the first paragraph. In this story, the key character is named Mr. Head, which immediately signals to the reader that this character is indicative of rationality and perhaps especially self-esteem (as in the expression having a big head). This is appropriate given that Mr. Heads substitute throughout the story will emphatically revolve around his religious and Christian-oriented awareness of the p hang of man and the problem of pridefulness. Mr. Head awakens (indeed, the whole story regards his awakening) in the night to a room full of moonlight. From the very beginning, elements of light and dark are vying in the storys background, and in this case, it is a light that shines through the darkness. OConnor, through the uses of dashes, alerts the reader to the moonlight universe the color of silver, the first of many silver/gray references throughout the story. It is great(p) not to equate this references to the thirty pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying Jesus. Such a reference is consistent with the storys themes of betrayal and forgiveness ( even out though Mr. Heads denial of his grandson Nelson is perhaps more reminiscent of Pete... ...nship mingled with blacks and fairs exist without such interchangeability. Such a reading suggests that African Americans are often the vehicle through which Southerners experience powerful lessons of hatred (as in Nelso ns first experience with the black man on the train), pride (when Nelson witnesses his grandfathers witty rejoinder to the stuffy black waiter), sexual urge (Nelsons run-in with the black temptress in the Atlanta ghetto), and even redemption (as they witness the statue in the storys penultimate moment). No matter that Nelson has only recently learned what a nigger is, never mind that the statue itself is plaster and one eye is entirely white the overturning of the master/servant relationship is only possible when firmly on the white side of the segregated line this reality ensures that all the niggers in this story remainartificial.