Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
This article argues that criminal violence and the criminal law not only influenced O’Connor’s writing in very specific ways, but that O’Connor’s focus on the marginalized can influence today’s attorneys. The piece explores this symbiotic relationship. Part One discusses O’Connor’s general understanding of her mission as a writer and the utility of violence as a device to advance that vocational mission. Part Two explores the sources of violence generally in O’Connor’s world. Part Three more specifically analyzes how O’Connor utilized actual crimes, and crime in general, to develop her stories. Part Four builds upon that observation to examine how the criminal law not only influenced her but almost becomes a silent character in her fiction—at times through its failure to protect the vulnerable. Given the shared vocation of screaming into a system not structured to accept the message, Part Five explores how Flannery O’Connor can offer inspirational guidance to today’s advocates on behalf of the vulnerable. Here, the article argues O’Connor’s approach to her work parallels that of many advocates but most particularly the prosecutor. Finally, this part asserts that this approach can positively influence the prosecutor, and indeed all attorneys, by offering an inspirational framework to successfully engage in the vocation to seek justice.
Recommended Citation
40 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 87 (2026).
