Disrupted Narratives: O'Connor's Feminine Grotesque

Flannery O'Connor's stories are noted for their narrative conflicts between the narrators' interpretation of events and the characters' recognition of the final violent stroke of life. Critics frequently refer to this kind of conflict as damaging to O'Connor's narratives. This paper nonetheless provides an alternative reading by taking the narrative conflict as a sign of O'Connor's narrative strategy. My argument is that through the narrative function of the grotesque, O'Connor creates in her narratives the comic effects generated from narrative contradictions and incongruities. Through the usage of contradictory value judgments, O'Connor implies rebellious laughter as a challenge to dominant cultural codes and narrative traditions. Combined with the comic function of the grotesque, O'Connor's narrative conflicts inspire in its reader various shades of laughter.