The Violent Bear It Away: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Violent Bear It Away" explores the complex dynamics of its major characters, primarily through the lens of Francis Marion Tarwater, a troubled teenager grappling with the weight of a prophetic legacy. Tarwater, raised by his great uncle, Mason Tarwater, embodies a struggle between rigid religious indoctrination and his personal yearning for autonomy. His internal conflicts manifest in his relationships with others, such as George Rayber, his rational uncle, and Bishop Rayber, his innocent cousin. George Rayber, a high school teacher, seeks to analyze and control those around him, yet his methods echo the oppressive tendencies of Old Tarwater, who haunts the narrative despite his death. Bishop Rayber, a mentally challenged child, serves as a poignant symbol of innocence and the legacy of Old Tarwater's prophetic ambitions. Supporting characters like Bernice Bishop and Buford Munson enrich the narrative, providing contrasting perspectives on community, responsibility, and the burdens of legacy. Through these interactions, the novel delves into themes of identity, faith, and the impact of familial expectations, inviting readers to reflect on the nature of prophecy and personal choice.
The Violent Bear It Away: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Flannery O'Connor
First published: 1960
Genre: Novel
Locale: Tennessee
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1952
Francis Marion Tarwater, a backwoods teenager who is perversely proud to have been born at the site of a car wreck in which his unmarried mother died. His father was a divinity student who later committed suicide. Kidnapped by his great uncle Mason Tarwater and taught to be a prophet, he struggles to reject his indoctrination, creating internal voices to express his own doubts and even equating strangers he meets—especially his rapist—with these voices. As much as Tarwater rejects Old Tarwater, he equally rejects the citified and superficially rational ways of his uncle George Rayber, finally simultaneously rejecting and accepting his prophetic calling when he baptizes and drowns his cousin Bishop Rayber. He consistently claims that his ability to act makes him superior to the thoughtful, talkative Rayber, but Tarwater's unconscious drives and the words he speaks to perform a baptism are crucial to his story.
George F. Rayber, a high school teacher, about forty years old, who specializes in testing. Like Tarwater, he has a strong interest in the role of prophet and the teachings of Old Tarwater. At the age of seven, he cooperated with his abduction by Old Tarwater. Rayber fights the attraction of prophecy by pouring his energies into rational methods for analyzing and changing others' lives. He is not interested in his son Bishop except as a means to draw the line on love, but he does like the idea of remaking Tarwater. He ends up as much of a bully as Old Tarwater. After he allows Tarwater to drown Bishop, he may find himself unable to recover without becoming even more like the two Tarwaters.
Mason Tarwater, called Old Tarwater, dead at the age of eighty-four. He was a backwoods prophet and haunts the other characters. Institutionalized for four years, he learned that he could be considered sane if he stopped talking about religion. Once released, he kidnapped children to give them a fundamentalist upbringing. His nephew Rayber's plausible theory that he called himself to become a prophet earned only his disgust. Old Tarwater resembles Rayber in his eagerness to pigeonhole other people.
Bishop Rayber, a mentally retarded child about five years old, who innocently wants to be friends with others. An old-looking child, he has white hair, and his eyes bear a strong resemblance to those of Old Tarwater, suggesting that, as he presents Tarwater with opportunities to perform a baptism by regularly rushing toward bodies of water, he is carrying on Old Tarwater's legacy. When Rayber tries to drown him and when Tarwater does drown him, his struggle to survive makes him seem a symbol of an elemental life force.
Bernice Bishop, whom Old Tarwater called the “welfare woman.” She went with Rayber to recover the kidnapped Tarwater, then gave up the attempt after Old Tarwater shot Rayber and she saw the cold look on the baby Tarwater's face. Older than Rayber, she later married him and gave birth to their child Bishop, only to leave him, probably in part because she disagreed with his determination not to institutionalize Bishop.
Buford Munson, a black man who lives near Old Tarwater's house in Powderhead. Buford appears to be part of a stable community of Christians who treat one another humanely; he knows to bury Old Tarwater without being ordered. He helps bring about the crucial turn in Tarwater's life, but his own life is more conventional and comfortable than the tortured lives of the major characters.
T. Fawcett Meeks, a traveling salesman of copper flues who gives Tarwater a ride into the city. Meeks believes that the value of loving other people is that you can sell them things. He also values machines and hard work, and had he not had a rendezvous scheduled with a girlfriend, he would have pressuredTarwatertoworkforhim.
Lucette Carmody, a child evangelist since the age of six. Now eleven or twelve years old, she has a physical disability in her legs. She travels with her parents, also evangelists. Her sermon focuses on the Massacre of the Innocents. Although Rayber thinks he can connect with her emotionally, she calls him damned. She may serve as a role model for Tarwater.