{Critical Analysis} Beloved in Light of Flannery O’Connor’s Essay Flannery O’Connor lectures, in her essay on the virtues and vices of writing a novel. In her essay, she describes those certain characteristics in good literature. Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved can be examined in light of Flannery O’Connor’s ideas on the characteristics of good literature. Among these characteristics are the role of imagery in literature, meaning as it pertains to …showed first 75 words of 1039 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1039 total…does convey meaning through experience rather than abstraction, but it fails to unfold the story around the reader and present it rather than report it. Toni Morrison’s novel, according to the criteria set forth by O’Connor, meets the requirements for good fiction. However, the shift in time periods or more exactly the vagueness of the shift detracts from the drama of the novel as well as its ability to unfold around the reader.