Spider Webs of the Soul: Beauty and Savage Mercy in Flannery O’Connor’s ’Parker’s Back’ - Amanda Daxon - August 4th 2023 - Friday Night Lecture

Dostoevsky said that beauty would save the world. But how? What does this mean? We can begin to apprehend what Dostoevsky so profoundly said only when we understand what it means to have a Christian poetic and once we have grappled with the nature of true Beauty. However, lest we relegate Beauty to a dry lecture, we will read through Flannery O'Connor's short story, 'Parker's Back', which displays the danger and redemptive power of Beauty by using vivid images, broken people, and fantastic humor. O'Connor's writing is beautiful in its form, but more than that, it communicates in a visceral way the desperate state of our souls and the power that beauty has to save us.

 

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Originally from Oklahoma, Amanda Daxon graduated valedictorian from Oklahoma Baptist University and subsequently worked for several years as a pediatric ICU nurse before realizing that her true passion was historical study. She graduated in 2011 from The Catholic University of America with a Master of Arts in Medieval History. She subsequently worked as the Program Coordinator for the Byzantine Studies Department at Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard University research institute located in Washington, D.C. In addition, she volunteered at the Folger Shakespeare Library, performing bibliographical analysis on 16th-18th century Flemish imprints before relocating to Germany for three years, where her husband was stationed with the US Army. There, she honed the art of having children and finding obscure medieval structures to explore. She has resided in Rochester for six years with her husband, Ben, and three children, Macallan, Gwyneth, and Sullivan. She currently teaches literature and rhetoric at Schaeffer Academy.

Flannery O'Connor Reads "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (1959) Click here.