obedience and action

Francis Marion Tarwater, Flannery O’Connor’s young, disturbed character in The Violent Bear It Away, came of age in the backwoods—far from the town and other people. Tarwater’s uncle, a bizarre man who had ecstatic visions and believed he was a prophet, raised the boy. When his uncle died, however, Tarwater headed to the city to find his remaining family. Once…