"The Displaced Person" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work and her own family hired a displaced person after World War II.
[edit] Plot summary
The story takes place on a farm in Georgia, just after World War II in the 1940s. The owner of the farm, Mrs. McIntyre, contacts a Catholic priest to find her a "displaced person" to work as a farm hand. The priest finds a Polish refugee named Mr. Guizac who relocates with his family to the farm. Because the displaced person is quite industrious, the Shortlys, a family of white farm hands, feel threatened and try to manipulate Mrs. McIntyre into firing Guizac, but Mrs. McIntyre decides to fire Shortly instead because of his perceived laziness. After the Shortlys leave, Mrs. McIntre misses Mrs. Shortly but finds out she died of a stroke on the day that they left, so she invites Mr. Shortly back instead. When she finds out that Guizac is asking his teenage niece to come to America by marrying one of the African American farm hands, she is appalled and when she eventually goes to fire him, a tractor rolls over his body.[1]
[edit] Major Symbols
[edit] The Peacocks
Flannery O'Connor was fascinated with peacocks, described in her essay "The King of the Birds." In the story, the way the characters view the peacocks often corresponds to their own moral compass. For example, Father Flynn and Astor have positive attitudes towards the birds and are generally likable characters, while Mrs. McIntyre starves the birds and reduces their population, making her a villain. [2]
[edit] References
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| Novels |
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Short story
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| Non-fiction collections |
- Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
- The Habit of Being: Letters
- The Presence of Grace and Other Book Reviews
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