O’Connor makes her fullest use of the automobile and all that is associated with it in Wise Blood, but the car and the traditions linked with it are also prominent in some of the short stories. In ‘‘Parker’s Back,’’ O. E. Parker plays the role of the evermoving American. He escapes from his mother and from the God preached in the revival tent, and then travels the world without any goal, first on board ship, like Ishmael, then wandering through the country in a beat-up truck. He has not meant to ‘‘get himself tied up legally’’ with a woman. But Parker has the...
Source: Short Stories for Students, ©2013 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 4027 words.)
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