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- The Artificial Nigger (Magill's Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
- The Artificial Nigger (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
See Also
- Theory of Short Fiction (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
- Flannery O'Connor (Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition)
- Flannery O’Connor (Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century)
- Flannery O'Connor (Identities & Issues in Literature)
- Flannery O'Connor (Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition)
- Flannery O'Connor (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- First Published: 1955
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Maturation or coming of age, Self-discovery, Traveling or travelers, Machinery
- Locales: United States, North America, Atlanta, Georgia
The Work
In “The Artificial Nigger,” Old Mr. Head and his ten-year-old grandson, Nelson, live in a state of subdued tension in which each works to outdo the other. Their planned trip to Atlanta (they live in rural Georgia) has made this competition worse. Even though Nelson has never been to the city, he is cheekily sure that he will enjoy it.
Gradually the reader understands that Mr. Head is thoroughly uncertain of his own ability to manage in the city, and he uses the sight of the city’s black people (a race Nelson has never seen) as a sort of weapon over...
(The entire page is 652 words.)
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