“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.
Book Review: A Crazed Prophet in the Woods
Published 16 days ago • 3 min read
THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY
BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
reviewed by Kristen West McGuire
It’s my favorite first line in all the novels I’ve ever read:
"Francis Marion Tarwater’s uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Saviour at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up."
There. Now you will have to stay up all night and read the whole thing. I call this book a rubber-necker, because even though you know you shouldn’t stare at the scene of an accident, you do. You just can’t help it. And her crime scenes are just gruesome.
Flannery O’Connor was a fearless novelist. She didn’t shy away from describing the vilest of evils, convinced as she was that the Grace of God was still greater. O’Connor’s portrayal of a boy raised by a crazed Pentecostal “prophet” in the woods of Alabama is an emotional roller coaster. I don’t recommend it for anyone in the midst of serious personal misfortune. It’s just too dark.
So, this may not be the year for you to read the story of Francis Marion Tarwater. Even the original publisher, Longwood in England, questioned her about the symbolism of the evils described, worried that the reader might become confused. There is a reason why O’Connor’s work is controversial, beyond her use of racist terminology.
On the other hand, there is a strange comfort in recognizing the truth of human suffering in her expert characterizations. Within their insanity, she manages to retain that kernel of our lived reality. She pushes our imaginations so far, to the point where we say, “Thank God that’s not me!” And in the same moment, you realize that it could be you. It really could.
O’Connor said later that, in her writing, she was more interested “in the moment when you know that Grace has been offered and accepted…and these moments are prepared for by the intensity of the evil circumstances.”
I can’t tell you the details of Tarwater’s story. When you’re ready, you’ll have to read it for yourself.
Discussion Questions:
1. The women in this novel are peripheral to the action. Either they are too drunk or too listless to intervene and protect the lives of the young people around them. Are women essential to the proper care of the young?
2. Rayber rejects Jesus and chooses to pretend there is no God, to pretend that his rational brain will save him. Tarwater sees through him, correctly noting that he is already dead to the life and love of his soul. In comparison to both Rayber and to his wild uncle, Tarwater does appear sane. How do we know we are sane? What is sanity?
3. The novel covers only seven days in the life of Tarwater, but it extends out to past, present and future by virtue of its flashbacks and momentous action. Have you ever experienced a painful week in which you found clarity about your mission in life?
4. The name of the novel comes from Matthew 11:12, where Jesus is preaching on John the Baptist: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.” Another translation is that “the violent take it by force.” What do you think that verse means?
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“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.