The Violent Bear It Away | The Battle Between Good and Evil

Hart is a freelance writer and author of several books. In this essay, Hart examines the various combatants in the battle between good and evil in O’Connor’s novel The Violent Bear It Away.

There has long been a discussion about the characters in Flannery O’Connor’s The Violent Bear It Away. This dialogue revolves around not just how the characters act and what their motives are but also includes an exchange of ideas concerning what each character represents. This is obviously a novel about the battle between good and evil, but on which side of this battle do the characters stand? And, maybe more importantly, which of the characters wins the battle? Is old man Tarwater a representative of good or evil? And where does that put Rayber, the character who stands...

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