There’s an abundance of criticism about (Mary’s) fiction, and yet perhaps it is refreshing that, as she was the rare occurrence of (femme-celebrite) during the 1950’s, the topic isn’t overtly predominant, which may mean that ‘Flan’ doesn’t ‘write like a woman.’ While at the same time, for the most part, it seems that her meticulous and imposing style makes readers wonder, ‘who exactly is this lady?’

O’Connor’s tragically – humorous characters who are constantly “muttering,” have been described as exaggerated or like caricatures, and each apologue offers a colorful as opposed to perhaps ‘flavorful,’ depiction of the south.

Readers may feel more than a normal sense of dependency and experience a sort of narrative – dilemma due to the multi-dimensionality of her compositions, which are full of symbology, as they grapple with various anagogical constructs and the overall meaning of each story.

-WA