A short story is a literary work shorter than a novel. Although some may think that the length may not be enough to develop a lofty story, in these few pages an author can pack a tight punch that will leave the author in awe, disgust, or utter sadness . Whether there is a moral to the story or it is simply for the reader's pleasure, each author has their own way of conveying a message through their work in very diverse ways. Through the works of Flannery O'Connor and Chuck Palahniuk, we can see this very clearly. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor is a short story about a family who is shot down by a criminal, named The Misfit, on a family. car trip. This story is filled with themes such as immorality, subtle manipulation, and self-centeredness. Through the character known simply as "The Grandmother", I believe O'Connor's goal is to try to enlighten the reader about the faults of society. Much like The Grandmother, we as humans tend to sacrifice the safety of others just to satisfy our own well-being. On the other hand, Chuck Palahniuk's Guts has to be the complete opposite when it comes to themes and plots with which it seems to me that it has absolutely no morals. This story is divided into three detailed stories that focus on the misadventures of masturbation. Chuck Palahniuk takes a very sensitive topic and makes it even more sensitive by describing the horrors of unhinged masturbation. As the stories progressed, they became more and more sickening. I cringed while reading this story. Palahniuk managed to make me physically feel the events through the sentences using just enough detail to make me wonder what would happen in the next excerpt. A boy used a carrot covered in Vaseline to stimulate...... middle of paper ......the come together to make his reading a more electrifying experience than reading a story. Palahniuk has the ability to engage all of the reader's senses when reading his wacky tales. Being able to physically feel the twists and turns of your stomach as he recites phrases like, “It’s not a snake. It's my large intestine, my colon is torn out. What doctors call prolapse. These are my guts being sucked down the drain. Throughout the story, he uses choppy sentence structure to get his point across quickly. This style of writing manages to provide a sort of mysterious connotation as it gives just enough to intrigue the reader. Guts is a difficult story to read, especially if you have a weak stomach, but with Chuck Palahniuk's sentence structure and lewd diction, it leaves you breathless and wanting more in the same breath..