Biography

        Flannery O’Connor, born a single child to Catholic parents, and grew up living a “largely uneventful” life on a Georgian farm (Meyer 351). Her writings do not portray this however, as she wrote with religious undertones while introducing secular characters into her stories, making them quite intriguing to readers. She most likely found her inspiration from going to a public school after moving to central Georgia, and, being from a strong Catholic background, came face to face with these secular ideas and worldly-minded people for the first time. Her stories also have southern settings or ties considering that is where she had the most experiences in her unexpectedly short lifetime (Meyer 352). At age 25, O’Connor was diagnosed with lupus, “a rare, incurable blood disease”, which her father had also passed away from while she was only in high school (Meyer 351). She died 14 years later at age 39, but even so, she was later recognized for her works accomplished in her lifetime; she finished two novels, and won the National Book Award for her collection of short stories titled “The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor” (Meyer 350).