Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away
This article examines Flannery O'Connor's depiction of mental disability in The Violent Bear It Away. O'Connor's work presents a particularly rich and complex intellectual space for examining stereotypes connecting mental disability with religious faith. Religious difference and...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Ohio State University Libraries
2016-12-01
|
| Series: | Disability Studies Quarterly |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5018 |
| _version_ | 1818272463222472704 |
|---|---|
| author | Sonya Freeman Loftis |
| author_facet | Sonya Freeman Loftis |
| author_sort | Sonya Freeman Loftis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article examines Flannery O'Connor's depiction of mental disability in The Violent Bear It Away. O'Connor's work presents a particularly rich and complex intellectual space for examining stereotypes connecting mental disability with religious faith. Religious difference and disabled difference are presented as symbolically inseparable in The Violent Bear It Away, a conflation that may encourage negative stereotypes regarding both faith and madness. In the larger scope of the novel, O'Connor uses Tarwater's ambiguous status as both a mad man and a man of faith to question modern psychology and the mental healthcare system: just as readers are implicitly asked to "diagnose" her mad characters (but are set up to fail by the novel's deliberate indeterminacy), the psychologist character Rayber also struggles (and fails) to diagnose the other characters around him. In the end, however, O'Connor's critique of the mental healthcare system may be undermined by her use of mental disability as a symbol to convey religious mystery.
© 2016 Loftis. All rights reserved. By author request, this article is excluded from Creative Commons licensing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T21:42:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8973f6a1fd3e488486fae54ddb8e5ef4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1041-5718 2159-8371 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T21:42:28Z |
| publishDate | 2016-12-01 |
| publisher | The Ohio State University Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Disability Studies Quarterly |
| spelling | doaj.art-8973f6a1fd3e488486fae54ddb8e5ef42022-12-22T00:11:01ZengThe Ohio State University LibrariesDisability Studies Quarterly1041-57182159-83712016-12-0136410.18061/dsq.v36i4.50183675Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It AwaySonya Freeman Loftis0Morehouse CollegeThis article examines Flannery O'Connor's depiction of mental disability in The Violent Bear It Away. O'Connor's work presents a particularly rich and complex intellectual space for examining stereotypes connecting mental disability with religious faith. Religious difference and disabled difference are presented as symbolically inseparable in The Violent Bear It Away, a conflation that may encourage negative stereotypes regarding both faith and madness. In the larger scope of the novel, O'Connor uses Tarwater's ambiguous status as both a mad man and a man of faith to question modern psychology and the mental healthcare system: just as readers are implicitly asked to "diagnose" her mad characters (but are set up to fail by the novel's deliberate indeterminacy), the psychologist character Rayber also struggles (and fails) to diagnose the other characters around him. In the end, however, O'Connor's critique of the mental healthcare system may be undermined by her use of mental disability as a symbol to convey religious mystery. © 2016 Loftis. All rights reserved. By author request, this article is excluded from Creative Commons licensing.http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5018Flannery O'ConnorThe Violent Bear It AwayMental DisabilityFaithMadnessMystery |
| spellingShingle | Sonya Freeman Loftis Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away Disability Studies Quarterly Flannery O'Connor The Violent Bear It Away Mental Disability Faith Madness Mystery |
| title | Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away |
| title_full | Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away |
| title_fullStr | Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away |
| title_full_unstemmed | Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away |
| title_short | Uprooting the Schizophrenic Seed of Faith: Mental Disability in The Violent Bear It Away |
| title_sort | uprooting the schizophrenic seed of faith mental disability in the violent bear it away |
| topic | Flannery O'Connor The Violent Bear It Away Mental Disability Faith Madness Mystery |
| url | http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5018 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sonyafreemanloftis uprootingtheschizophrenicseedoffaithmentaldisabilityintheviolentbearitaway |