The Lame Shall Enter First | Critical Overview

Published in the collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find, “The Lame Shall Enter First” is O’Connor’s longest story. Many critics view the collection as a cycle of stories, each related to the theme of attaining a higher moral consciousness while focusing on a character whose egoism distorts his perception and blinds him to the transforming power of the divine. For O’Connor, this is often experienced through violence or an embodiment of evil. As in the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Conner’s “The Lame Shall Enter First” uses “lameness” as metaphor for...

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