“God May Strike you Thisaway”: Flannery O’Connor and Simone Weil on Affliction and Joy

Publication Type

Journal Article

Year of Publication

2007

Author

Wood, Ralph C.

Journal

Renascence

Volume

59

Number

3

Pages

181-195

Publisher

Marquette University

Language

English

Publish Dates

Spring

Keywords

affliction (malheur)
love of God
necessity
'theology of the cross'

Annotation

Although focused on Flannery O’Connor, Wood uses Weil to defend O’Connor against the charges of being ‘fundamentally’ malevolent’ in the repeated portrayal of human destruction in her novels. In so doing, Wood’s article provides an interesting and insightful discussion of Weil’s work, especially her notions of affliction (malheur), necessity, the love of God, and a theology of the cross.