Irony in The Lame Shall Enter First Essays -- Lame Shall Enter First E

Irony in The Lame Shall raise First When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand get along what thy right hand doeth counsels the Bible, thus setting the precedent for all intimately-meaning members of western society concerning their charitable intentions (Matt. 6.3). Humanitys motivation to aid others, regardless of the outcome, is often times spotted by the subtle struggle between altruism and selfishness. Flannery OConnor captures this classic conflict between good and evil in grey Grotesque fashion through her characters, the protagonist Sheppard and his foil, Rufus Johnson, in comment2 The Lame Shall come to First.comment3 Challenging the literal paradigm of light and darkness, OConnor weaves together well crafted characterization, cryptic dialogue, and both biblical and literary allusion in this paradoxical mend and, by way of Sheppard and the antithetical Rufus, blends the disgraceful and white of Christian precept into an ironical grey. The contrast o f light and dark begins with the description and characterization of the seemingly angelic comment4 Sheppard, and continues with the introduction of the obscure and ominous Rufus Johnson. OConnor is not pretentious in her description and development of either character. Sheppards white hair and halo be obvious references to his protagonistic status as the storys do-gooder comment5 (Norton 371). The narrator continues on by lauding his charitable contribution to the community as a counselor and pass volunteer for boys no one else cared about (372). The readers only initial suggestion toward Sheppards self-righteous mania is his deliberate, guilt-implying sermon towards Norton, his disconcerted and doomed son. It is n... ...pherd, only the badgering of total defeat. Sheppards epiphany comes too late and the stark contrast that once noble-minded him from the dark object of his alms turns into the faded realization that he is no mitigate than the beleaguered beneficia ry. Through OConnors strategic literary devices, deft character contrast, and parody of fix Christian values, the reader is left to digest and dissect the fact that peradventure the entire flock comment15 isnt worth one black sheep. Between the black and white islands of moral certainty, good and evil, there lies a sea of ironic grey. Works Cited The King James Version. Great Britain Cambridge UP, 1996. OConnor, Flannery. The Lame Shall Enter First. The Norton existence to Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th ed. New York Norton, 1998. 371-414.