Before the Sun Has Set : Retribution in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor

This detailed analysis of the theme of retribution is a key to understanding the fiction of Flannery O'Connor. An idea central to the Bible, Dante, and Chaucer -- one is paid back for the evil one does or for failure to do good -- retribution expresses O'Connor's interest as a writer and defines the contour of her achievement as an artist. Within the twenty-year span of her writing career, O'Connor's notion of retribution expanded from her original concept in her first story, « The Geranium, of retribution as personal and familial, to her final version in her last story, « Judgement Day, which shows an interest that is eschatological.