The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor

Perhaps it is only with the benefit of hindsight that one might begin to comprehend the horror of this novel, published in 1960, with the story taking place in the American South of 1952. The title of this books comes from the bible verse Matthew 11:12 (from the Douay-Rheims version of the bible): “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.” This story follows the struggle of a family who are marked by a legacy, starting with a mad uncle who claimed to be a prophet, leaving behind two nephews who struggle against and for the marks he’s left on their souls, two family members living two extremes–the overzealous and the overdisciplined–as they follow a path of self-fulfilling prophecies left behind by an old man.

She’s known more for her short stories and wrote only a very few novels in her lifetime. This is the first novel I’ve ever read by O’Connor. Southern Gothic novels are so haunting and chilling all the same filled with things that could be considered magical realism, and as a Southerner, despite the time gap between many novels in the genre, you can still see how some of these ideas are so pervasive in the south such as the religious fervor that provide the focal point of this love.

If you'd like to get a sampling of the deeply dark, morbid and haunting world of Southern fundamentalist ol' time religion, purchase now. If you are looking for an enjoyable summer read, perhaps you should look elsewhere. I'll just say that it's a BRUTAL book, dealing with a 14-year-old boy, fanatical, Southern fundamentalists and the related themes of destruction and redemption. THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY's title is taken from a verse in the Douay-Rhiens Catholic Bible at Matthew 11:12: 'From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.' I'll forego delving into possible meanings of the title, and any discussion of the novel gives away what happens at and near the end of the book. Her short stories and two novels either explored dark religious themes or were tinged with often morbid religious undertones. Flannery O'Connor, a devout Catholic, was super-critical of fundamentalist Protestants. If you were raised in the rural South or spent the summertime there with someone in your WASP family, you may still suffer the occasional nightmare, as I do, from the trauma left by hellfire and brimstone sermons or a fundamentalist Sunday 'school' or two, having been left at an impressionable age (8 to 14) with the constant fear that you and all who have not yet been saved will be eternally damned if you do not save them from this blasphemous world, and spooked by the bountiful ignorance that surrounded you.

Violence to Youth of Good Ol' Fundamentalism

The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor