An Analysis of the First Paragraph of O’Connor’s The Artificial Nigger

An Analysis of the First Paragraph of OConnors The schmaltzy Nigger ?In The Artificial Nigger, Flannery OConnor commingles characteristic Christian imagery with themes evocative of her Southern setting. In this essay, a close reading of the first paragraph of this tier elucidates the subtle ways in which OConnor sets up these basic themes of redemption and forgiveness. An additional paragraph will examine the ramifications of this reading on the intertwined racial aspects of the story, which are connected by a common theme of master/servant imagery, which is integral to the first paragraph. In this story, the key character is named Mr. Head, which immediately signals to the reader that this character is suggestive of reasonableness and perhaps especially pride (as in the expression having a big head). This is appropriate given that Mr. Heads change by dint ofout the story will emphatically revolve around his spiritual and Christian-oriented awareness of the plight of man a nd the problem of pridefulness. Mr. Head awakens (indeed, the whole story regards his awakening) in the night to a room full of moonlight. From the very beginning, elements of light and dark are vying in the storys background, and in this case, it is a light that shines through the darkness. OConnor, through the uses of dashes, alerts the reader to the moonlight being the color of silver, the first of many silver/gray references throughout the story. It is hard not to equate this references to the thirty pieces of silver that Judas stock for betraying Jesus. Such a reference is consistent with the storys themes of betrayal and forgiveness (even though Mr. Heads denial of his grandson Nelson is perhaps more reminiscent of Pete... ...nship between blacks and whites exist without such interchangeability. Such a reading suggests that African Americans are often the vehicle through which Southerners experience powerful lessons of hatred (as in Nelsons first experience with the black ma n on the train), pride (when Nelson witnesses his grandfathers witty rejoinder to the stuffy black waiter), sexuality (Nelsons run-in with the black temptress in the Atlanta ghetto), and even redemption (as they witness the statue in the storys penultimate moment). No matter that Nelson has wholly recently learned what a nigger is, never mind that the statue itself is plaster and one eye is entirely white the overturning of the master/servant relationship is barely possible when firmly on the white side of the segregated line this reality ensures that all the niggers in this story remainartificial.