Parker's Back

In the short story "Parker’s Back" the character Parker has many differences and similarities to the grandmother from "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and Mrs. Turpin from "Revelation". The difference is that Parker does not believe in God and faith while the other two characters do. Parker’s wife seems to be more like the characters from the other stories but she is not the one to have a revelation. This story can show that you don’t have to have a current belief in God to have a revelation. Parker like the characters has a revelation of sorts and starts to have faith. Parker’s wife does not have the revelation like the other characters so Flannery O’Conner is showing people of maybe a lower class can receive grace just like anyone else.

Past Friends

Over the years I have had many different friends in different places. I do try to keep up with them and see how they are doing but since I have been away from them for so long I don’t know if we would still be as good friends as we used to be. I don’t think I’ve changed a whole lot but to them I may have or they may have changed a whole lot. I don’t know if I’ll ever go to see them ever again but I will try to stay in contact with them because we were good friends and that counts for something.

Advice

I remember being younger I did not take advice from my parents very seriously. You would always here that everything that I’m going through they went through already but I never believed that. Though they might not have went through the exact same situations as me they have some kind of idea of what I’m like because they weren’t much different. That always made it hard to lie to them because they already knew what I was doing. I now realize that advice they give me is usually pretty good. I will still make decisions for myself but listening to them every once in a while shouldn’t hurt.

O'Conner's Faith

Reading the critical texts it is apparent that being a Catholic was an extremely critical part of Flannery O'Conner's writing style. She tried to communicate to her audience some ideals that she felt that the audience would have trouble comprehending due to the lower number of Catholics. She felt that Catholics lacked their own region or part of the country so most of her audience would not be Catholic. Being Catholic she tried to show some redemptive qualities in her work. For example the grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” in the end has a revelation and in a way repents for what she has done. Though throughout the story the grandmother seems like the last person to repent she has a moment of grace on realizes what has she has done. According to the analysis “Parker’s Back” the story is about direction. Parker has an unease that he tries to fill by getting tattoos. This does momentarily ease him but only for a short period. This story once again shows redemption showing O’Conner’s Catholic influence. Once again her faith influences what she writes about. Redemption and grace are common themes in the short stories and are aspects of her faith.

Excuses

I used to be pretty insecure about my height because I am noticeably short. When I was younger I was never really teased too much about my height because I was friends with everyone but I always thought about it. I was actually pretty mad about it because I always thought about what I would be able to do if I was just a little bit taller. I was pretty good at sports but from a past experience never wanted to try out. I always gave my friends some kind of excuse to why I wasn’t trying out but I just didn’t want to be cut because of my height. That lasted a pretty long time through most of high school. I have gotten over that and don’t really use that as an excuse for anything anymore. It easy to use the excuse by I tend to just try to use what I have.

Just Do It

I just recently learned how to swim and I must admit that it is easier than I thought. In that past I was held back by the fear of drowning. My younger brother learned to swim years before me so that was a little embarrassing. He always told me if I started to sink just stand up but for some reason I didn’t trust that. I always wanted to keep my feet under me. Well no matter how many attempts I made I was not going to be able to swim like that. I never wanted to go under water either so that definitely hindered my progress. I finally started just doing what I needed to do to swim and turns out that it is not hard at all. I’m still not an expert but I can handle myself at a pool party or something without being the only one outside the pool.

Changes

Being in a military family we had to relocate plenty of times in my lifetime. As a young child this did not bother me much because I thought that that was what everyone went through and I had no trouble making new friends. As I got older and closer to high school moving around got to be an annoyance. The first time I was mad about having to move was in the 8^th grade. We had only lived there a year and in that short time I made a lot of friends. When everything was really working out good we had to move. Having to pack up all our stuff in boxes was enough of a hassle without having to leave all my friends. That was difficult for me but it got easier because of things like Myspace so I could keep in touch with everyone I have moved away from over the years.