International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Mystery and Meaning in “The Enduring Chill” by Flannery O’Connor
Helen Ruth Andretta

Abstract
This paper analyzes the theme of mystery and meaning in the short story “The Enduring Chill” by Flannery O’Connor according to the principles the author lived and wrote by. These are well expressed in a collection of her essays (Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose. Eds. S.& R. Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux). As a twentieth century American writer of the South, and a Christian, O’Connor used the genre of grotesque literature in a unique manner imbuing, especially in “The Enduring Chill,” the literal meaning of mystery with religious significance. The story probes the main character’s physical and spiritual health, establishing the author’s intention to associate body and soul in a diagnosis of his illness.

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