This novel published in 1960, was written by Flannery O’Connor while she was battling a debilitating disease that has left her crippled. It was probably because of her difficult physical condition that she increasingly turned to her faith for emotional and psychological support. During her lifetime, there was no treatment yet available for lupus, the disease which also claimed her father’s life. She retired to a restricted life, under the care of her mother, in a farm in Milledgeville, Georgia where she produced her brilliant novel and her celebrated short stories.
The Violent Bear It Away, like her other novel, Wise Blood, is a complex and extremely disturbing work. It’s about a 14-year old boy, Tarwater, who is split between his “destined” vocation as a would-be “prophet”, having been trained by his explosive, bible-thumping preacher-great-uncle Mason, and the secular, almost-fanatical rationalist views and lifestyle of his uncle, Rayber who had been estranged from the old man. The action revolves around Tarwater carrying out the assignment given by the now-dead Mason, to baptize Bishop, the idiot son of Rayber.
The problem is that the boy is reluctant and unconvinced of his vocation, and opposes and tries to reject his previous formation and calling with every fibre of his being, while at the same time, accepts none of the rationalization and psychology of his secular uncle. This provides the backdrop of the story, as Tarwater is locked in an inner battle with himself, against belief and acceptance.
The battle for Tarwater’s soul is reflected in the conflict of wills: Mason dies right from the start of the novel, but his presence is strongly felt throughout, he’s like the boy’s conscience. On the other hand, his conflict with his uncle is aided by an unseen, new “friend”, a sinister voice in his mind only made obvious in the last pages, who ultimately directs him to the final fearsome events of the novel: the drowning of his nephew, Bishop and his getting violently raped by a hitchhiker.
Much like in Wise Blood, O’Connor draws again from biblical events for her inspiration. The old man clearly represents the uncompromising John the Baptist, while Tarwater reminds one of the sulky Jonah in the Old Testament, who stubbornly refused his vocation until he is forced to a final choice.
Again, as a recurring theme for most of her works, violence is used here as the “agent of grace”. It is this final violation that made Tarwater realize the futility of his independence of will. God will get his way, and He will force you to accept his will, whether you want it or not.
The intensity of the conflict becomes apparent by the masterful descriptions of the settings. It’s as if nature were a witness to the supernatural combat over Tarwater’s soul as well. It is the classic fight between good and evil.
O’Connor’s religious convictions manifest itself in the novel. The story, according to the author, is about baptism, specifically baptism in Christ. Tarwater got a new lease on life, a new life in Christ. The violence and pain he underwent symbolized an important process of renewing his life, much like giving birth. This is his baptism.
It is like with us. We get a new life through baptism. The main difference is that we need not suffer, experience pain and violence anymore, because Christ has already done it for us on the Cross. In order to be eligible to this saving grace, however, there is only one condition: that we need to be “born again” and wash away our old sins (meaning original sin). We need baptism. That explains why for the author, it IS a matter of life and death.
Unfortunately, the so-called “born again” groups mistakenly think the words being “born again” means attending their bible studies, simply proclaiming “Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior” (does this phrase even exist in the bible?) and consequently joining their ranks in order to be saved “properly”. It is not. It clearly refers to the rite of baptism. Christ underscored the importance of this rite when he allowed himself to be baptized by John.
I remember clearly the pastor of my friend who gave an impromptu lecture, that baptism is unchristian and pagan, and Donita Rose proclaiming on TV that she doesn’t believe in baptism. I always wondered whether they knew what they were talking about.
O’Connor is certainly an apologist. But it is her extraordinary skills in conveying her convictions by dramatizing the individual’s conflict in accepting and opposing these that manages to startle. On the surface, she writes like a witch, the ferocity of the violence is unsettling. She once said that she had to “imbue this action (baptism) with an awe and terror which will suggest its awful mystery. (She had) to distort the look of the thing in order to represent both the mystery and the fact”.
Whether you subscribe to this belief or not, The Violent Bear It Away is a thought-provoking work, very much like Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, that forces us to understand, in no uncertain terms, that Christ died on the cross, saved us from sin and allows us to have a new, eternal life.
The Violent Bear It Away, like her other novel, Wise Blood, is a complex and extremely disturbing work. It’s about a 14-year old boy, Tarwater, who is split between his “destined” vocation as a would-be “prophet”, having been trained by his explosive, bible-thumping preacher-great-uncle Mason, and the secular, almost-fanatical rationalist views and lifestyle of his uncle, Rayber who had been estranged from the old man. The action revolves around Tarwater carrying out the assignment given by the now-dead Mason, to baptize Bishop, the idiot son of Rayber.
The problem is that the boy is reluctant and unconvinced of his vocation, and opposes and tries to reject his previous formation and calling with every fibre of his being, while at the same time, accepts none of the rationalization and psychology of his secular uncle. This provides the backdrop of the story, as Tarwater is locked in an inner battle with himself, against belief and acceptance.
The battle for Tarwater’s soul is reflected in the conflict of wills: Mason dies right from the start of the novel, but his presence is strongly felt throughout, he’s like the boy’s conscience. On the other hand, his conflict with his uncle is aided by an unseen, new “friend”, a sinister voice in his mind only made obvious in the last pages, who ultimately directs him to the final fearsome events of the novel: the drowning of his nephew, Bishop and his getting violently raped by a hitchhiker.
Much like in Wise Blood, O’Connor draws again from biblical events for her inspiration. The old man clearly represents the uncompromising John the Baptist, while Tarwater reminds one of the sulky Jonah in the Old Testament, who stubbornly refused his vocation until he is forced to a final choice.
Again, as a recurring theme for most of her works, violence is used here as the “agent of grace”. It is this final violation that made Tarwater realize the futility of his independence of will. God will get his way, and He will force you to accept his will, whether you want it or not.
The intensity of the conflict becomes apparent by the masterful descriptions of the settings. It’s as if nature were a witness to the supernatural combat over Tarwater’s soul as well. It is the classic fight between good and evil.
O’Connor’s religious convictions manifest itself in the novel. The story, according to the author, is about baptism, specifically baptism in Christ. Tarwater got a new lease on life, a new life in Christ. The violence and pain he underwent symbolized an important process of renewing his life, much like giving birth. This is his baptism.
It is like with us. We get a new life through baptism. The main difference is that we need not suffer, experience pain and violence anymore, because Christ has already done it for us on the Cross. In order to be eligible to this saving grace, however, there is only one condition: that we need to be “born again” and wash away our old sins (meaning original sin). We need baptism. That explains why for the author, it IS a matter of life and death.
Unfortunately, the so-called “born again” groups mistakenly think the words being “born again” means attending their bible studies, simply proclaiming “Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior” (does this phrase even exist in the bible?) and consequently joining their ranks in order to be saved “properly”. It is not. It clearly refers to the rite of baptism. Christ underscored the importance of this rite when he allowed himself to be baptized by John.
I remember clearly the pastor of my friend who gave an impromptu lecture, that baptism is unchristian and pagan, and Donita Rose proclaiming on TV that she doesn’t believe in baptism. I always wondered whether they knew what they were talking about.
O’Connor is certainly an apologist. But it is her extraordinary skills in conveying her convictions by dramatizing the individual’s conflict in accepting and opposing these that manages to startle. On the surface, she writes like a witch, the ferocity of the violence is unsettling. She once said that she had to “imbue this action (baptism) with an awe and terror which will suggest its awful mystery. (She had) to distort the look of the thing in order to represent both the mystery and the fact”.
Whether you subscribe to this belief or not, The Violent Bear It Away is a thought-provoking work, very much like Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, that forces us to understand, in no uncertain terms, that Christ died on the cross, saved us from sin and allows us to have a new, eternal life.
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