Flannery O'ConnorWhen writing a piece of literature, the content is often influenced by the background of the person writing. The author, consciously or unconsciously, adds personal experiences or beliefs to his works. Flannery O'Connor is a good example of this trend. Her short stories illustrate the difficulties, beliefs and society of the time in which she lived and wrote. This is demonstrated most blatantly in his short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories. Flannery O'Connor reflects her illness, in the mutilation of her characters, her religion, in the types of characters she chooses and her status as an outcast from society, in the traits of her characters, through the plots of her short stories . "Connor's own genetic disease, which ultimately led to his death, played a key role in the development of the characters in his stories. O'Connor lost his father to systemic lupus erythematosus. It is about a disease that causes a dysfunction in the body that causes the production of antibodies that attack the body's own tissues; this is an autoimmune disease ("Flannery O'Connor Biography"). killed her father while she was still a teenager. Nine years later, O'Connor herself contracted the same disease which was then considered incurable and did not stop her from writing. with only crutches due to the deformity of her hip bone This is strikingly similar to her character in "Good Country People". Hulga's character also had leg disabilities. She uses her wooden leg to her advantage. For example, every morning she comes down the stairs hitting her wooden leg just to be unpleasant. Her mother made mean excuses for her... middle of paper ...... her stories, she was able to tell her stories in the time period she was in. Through exaggerated and shocking details in the plot, O'Connor was able to effectively and efficiently convey the message she was trying to convey to her select audience. Flannery O'Connor is a good example of how an author's experience can actually affect their literary work and how well it can make their point. Works Cited "Biography of Flannery O'Connor." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 2012. Web. March 20, 2012. “Flannery O’Connor Flannery O’Connor.” Encyclopedia of World Biography on Flannery O'Connor. BookRags. Internet. March 20, 2012. Liukkonen, Petri. “Flannery O’Connor.” Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. 2008. Internet. March 20. 2012. .