作家富兰纳瑞·欧康纳

69 作家富兰纳瑞·欧康纳

DATE=7-15-01
TITLE=PEOPLE IN AMERICA #1830 - Flannery O'Connor
BYLINE=RICHARD THORMAN
 
Voice one:
I'm Shirley Griffith.
Voice two:
And I'm ray freeman with the VOA Special English Program, People in America.  Today, we tell about writer Flannery O'Connor.
((theme))
Voice one:
Late in her life someone asked the American writer Flannery O'Connor why she wrote.  She said, "because I am good at it."
She was good.  Yet, she was not always as good a writer as she became.  She improved because she listened to others.  She changed her stories.  She re-wrote them, then re-wrote them again, always working to improve what she was creating.
Flannery had always wanted to be a writer.  After she graduated from (1)Georgia state college for women, she asked to be accepted at a writing program at the State University of (2)Iowa.  The head of the school found it difficult to understand her southern speech. He asked her to write what she wanted.  Then he asked to see some examples of her work.
He saw immediately that the writing was full of (3)imagination and bright with knowledge, like Flannery O'Connor herself.
Voice two:
Mary Flannery O'Connor was born march twenty-fifth, Nineteen-Twenty-Five, in the southern city of Savannah, Georgia.
The year she was born, her father developed a (4)rare disease¹ called (5)lupus.  He died of the disease in Nineteen-Forty-One.  By that time the family was living in the small southern town of Milledgeville, Georgia, in a house owned by Flannery's mother.
Life in a small town in the American south was what O'Connor knew best.  Yet she said, "if you know who you are, you can go anywhere."
Voice one:
Many people in the town of Milledgeville thought she was different from other girls.  She was kind to everyone, but she seemed to stand to one side of what was happening, as if she wanted to see it better.  Her mother was her example.  Her mother said, "I was brought up to be nice to everyone and not to tell my business to anyone."
Flannery also did not talk about herself.  But in her writing a silent² and distant anger (6)explodes from the quiet (7)surface of her stories.  Some see her as a (8)Roman (9)Catholic³ (10)Religious⁴ writer.        They see her anger as the search to save her moral⁵ being through her belief in (11)Jesus Christ⁶.  Others do not (12)deny⁷ her Roman Catholic Religious beliefs.  Yet they see her not writing about things, but presenting the things themselves.
Voice two:
When she left the writing program at Iowa State University she was invited to join a group of writers at the Yaddo Writers' (13)Colony.  Yaddo is at Saratoga springs in New York State.  It provides a small group of writers with a home and a place to work for a short time.
The following year, Nineteen-Forty-Nine, she moved to New York City.  She soon left the city and lived with her friend Robert Fitzgerald and his family in the northeastern state of (14)Connecticut.  Fitzgerald says O'Connor needed to be alone to work during the day.  And she needed her friends to talk to when her work was done.
((music bridge))
Voice one:
While writing her first novel, Wise Blood, she was stricken with the disease, Lupus, that had killed her father.  The (15)treatment for lupus weakened⁸ her.  She moved back to Feorgia and lived the rest of her life with her mother on a farm outside Milledgeville. O'Connor was still able to write, travel, and give speeches.
Wise Blood appeared in Nineteen-Fifty-Two.  Both it and O'Connor's second novel, the (16)Violent⁹ Bear It Away, are about a young man growing up.  In both books the young men are unwilling¹⁰ to accept the work they were most fit to do.
Like all of Flannery O'Connor's writing, the book is filled with humor¹², even when her meaning is serious.  It shows the mix of a (17)traditional world with a modern world.  It also shows a battle of ideas (18)expressed in the simple, country talk that O'Connor knew very well.
Voice two:
In Wise Blood a young man, Hazel Motes¹³, leaves the army but finds his hometown empty.  He (19)flees to a city, looking for "a place to be."  On the train he (20)announces that he does not believe in Jesus Christ.  He says, "I wouldn't even if he existed.  Even if he was on this train."
His moving to the city is an (21)attempt to move away from the natural world and become a thing, a machine.  He decides that all he can know is what he can touch and see.
In the end, however, he destroys his physical sight so that he may truly see, because he says that when he had eyes he was blind.  (22)Critics¹⁵ say his action seems to show that he is no longer willing¹¹ to deny the (23)existence of Jesus but now is willing to follow him into the dark.
The novel received high praise from critics.  It did not become popular with the public, however.
Voice one:
O'Connor's second novel, the Violent Bear It Away, was (24)published in Nineteen-Sixty.  Like Wise Blood, it is a story about a young man learning¹⁶ to deal with life.
The book opens with the young man, Francis Marion Tarwater, refusing to do the two things his grandfather had ordered him to do.  These are to (25)bury the old man deep in the ground, and to bring religion to his uncle's mentally¹⁷ sick child.
Instead, tarwater burns the house where his grandfather died and lets the mentally sick child drown during a religious (26)ceremony.
Voice two:
Critics say Tarwater's violence¹⁸ comes from his attempt to find truth by denying¹⁹ religion.  In the end, however, he accepts that he has been touched by a deeper force, the force of the word of god, and he must accept that word.
Both of O'Connor's novels explore the long moment of fear when a young man must choose between the difficulties²⁰ of growing up and the safe world of a child.
((music bridge))
Voice one:
Flannery O'Connor is at least as well known²¹ for her stories as for her novels.  Her first book of stories, a good man is hard to find, appeared in Nineteen Fifty-Five.  In it she deals with many of the ideas she wrote about in Wise Blood, such as the search for Jesus Christ.
In many of the stories there is a (27)conflict between the world of the spirit and the world of the body.  In the story, "the life you save may be your own," a traveling workman²² with only one arm comes to a farm.  He claims to be more concerned with things of the spirit than with objects.
Voice two:
The woman who owns the farm offers to let him marry her deaf daughter.  He finally agrees when the mother gives him the farm, her car, and seventeen dollars for the wedding trip.  He says, "lady, a man is divided into two parts, body and spirit.... the body, lady, is like a house: it don't go anywhere; but the spirit, lady, is like a (28)automobile, always on the move...."
He marries the daughter and drives off with her.  When they stop to eat, the man leaves her and drives off toward²³ the city.  On the way he stops and gives a ride to a wandering boy.
We learn that when the one-armed man was a child his mother left him.  Critics say that when he helps the boy he is helping²⁴ himself.
Voice one:
In Nineteen-Sixty-Four, O'Connor was operated on for a (29)stomach disease.  One result of this operation was the return of lupus, the disease that killed her father.  On August third, Nineteen-Sixty-Four, Flannery O'Connor died.  She was thirty-nine years old.
Near the end of her life she said, "I'm a born catholic, and death has always been brother to my imagination."
Voice two:
The next year, in Nineteen-Sixty-Five, her final (30)collection of stories, everything that rises must (31)converge, appeared.  In it she speaks of the cruelty²⁵ of disease and the deeper cruelty that exists between parents and children.  In these stories, grown children are in a (32)struggle with parents they neither love nor leave.  Many of the children feel (33)guilty about hating the mothers who, the children feel, have destroyed them through love.  The children want to (34)rebel (35)violently, but they fear losing their mothers' protection²⁶.
In Nineteen-Seventy-One, O'Connor's collected stories was published.  The book (36)contains most of what she wrote.  It has all the stories of her earlier collections.  It also has early (37)versions of both novels that were first published as stories. And it has parts of an uncompleted novel and an unpublished story.
In Nineteen-Seventy-Two this last book won the (38)American Book Industry's Highest Prize, the (39)National Book Award.  As one critic¹⁴ noted²⁷, Flannery O'Connor did not live long, but she lived deeply²⁸, and wrote beautifully.
((theme))
Voice one:
This Special English Program was written by Richard Thorman.  I'm Shirley Griffith.
Voice two:
And I'm Ray Freeman.  Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.

(1)Georgia [ 5dVC:dVjE ]n.乔治亚州
(2)Iowa [ 5aiEwE ]n.爱荷华州
(3)imagination [ i7mAdVi5neiFEn ]n.想象力
(4)rare [ rZE ]adj.罕见的
(5)lupus [ 5lu:pEs ]n.[医]狼疮
(6)explode [ iks5plEud ] vi. 爆发
(7)surface [ 5sE:fis ]n.表面
(8)Roman [ 5rEumEn ]n.罗马人
(9)catholic [ 5kAWElik ] adj.天主教的
(10)religious [ ri5lidVEs ]adj.信奉宗教的
(11)Jesus Christ [ 5dVi:zEs ]n.耶稣(基督教信奉的救世主)
(12)deny [ di5nai ]v.否认
(13)colony [ 5kClEni ]n. (聚居的)一群同业, 一批同行
(14)Connecticut [ kE5netikEt ]n. （美国）康涅狄格
(15)treatment [ 5tri:tmEnt ]n.治疗
(16)violent [ 5vaiElEnt ]adj.暴力的
(17)traditional [trE5dIFEn(E)l]adj.传统的
(18)express [ iks5pres ] vt.表达, 表示
(19)flee [ fli: ] vi.逃
(20)announce [ E5nauns ]vt.宣布
(21)attempt [ E5tempt ]n.努力, 尝试, 企图
(22)critic [ 5kritik ]n. 评论家
(23)existence [ i^5zistEns ]n.存在
(24)publish [ 5pQbliF ]v.出版
(25)bury [ 5beri ]vt.埋葬
(26)ceremony [ 5serimEni ]n.仪式
(27)conflict [ 5kCnflikt ]n.斗争, 冲突
(28)automobile [ 5C:tEmEubi:l, 7C:tE5mEubil, 7C:tEmE5bi:l ]n.<主美>汽车
(29)stomach [ 5stQmEk ]n.胃
(30)collection [ kE5lekFEn ]n.文集
(31)converge [ kEn5vE:dV ]v.聚合
(32)struggle [ 5strQ^l ]n.斗争
(33)guilty [ 5^ilti ]adj.内疚的
(34)rebel [ 5rebEl ]v. 反抗
(35)violently [5vaiElEnt] adv.猛烈地, 激烈地, 极端地
(36)contain [ kEn5tein ]vt.包含
(37)version [ 5vE:FEn ]n.译文, 译本, 翻译
(38)American Book Industry's Highest Prize n.美国图书工业最高奖
(39)National Book Award n.国家图书奖

1 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

2 silent   

adj.安静的，不吵闹的，沉默的，无言的；n.(复数)默剧

参考例句：

• Immediately on his beginning to speak,everyone was silent.他一讲话，大家顿时安静下来。
• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder. 孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。

3 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

4 religious   

adj.宗教性的，虔诚的，宗教上的；n.修道士，出家人

参考例句：

• She is very religious person who goes to church every Sunday.她十分虔诚，每个星期天都上教堂。
• It is hard for me to reject religious beliefs.要我抛弃自己的宗教信仰是困难的。

5 moral   

adj.道德(上)的，有道德的；n.品行，寓意，道德

参考例句：

• Moral beauty ought to be ranked above all other beauty.品德之美应列于其他美之上。
• He deceived us into believing that he could give us moral support.他骗得我们相信他能给我们道义上的支持。

6 Christ   

n.基督，救世主，耶稣

参考例句：

• I regarded him as the Christ.我把他当作救世主。
• Christ preached that we should love each other.基督在布道中说人们应该互爱。

7 deny   

vt.否定，否认；拒绝相信，拒绝接受，拒绝给予；vi.否定，拒绝

参考例句：

• Don't imagine you can deny that.你休想低赖。
• He didn't deny the facts.他没有否认这些事实。

8 weakened   

adj.虚弱的v.（使）削弱， （使）变弱( weaken的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The team has been weakened by injury. 这个队因伤实力减弱。
• In his weakened condition, he is very susceptible to cold. 他身体很弱，因此很容易患感冒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 violent   

adj.暴力的，猛烈的，激烈的，极端的，凶暴的，歪曲的

参考例句：

• The madman was violent and had to be locked up.这个精神病患者很凶暴，不得不把他锁起来。
• They caught him and gave him a violent beating.他们抓住了他，把他狠狠打了一顿。

10 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

11 willing   

adj.愿意的，自愿的，乐意的，心甘情愿的

参考例句：

• We never lack food and clothing if we're willing to work.如果我们愿意工作,就不会缺吃少穿。
• He's quite willing to pay the price I ask.他很愿意照我的要价付钱。

12 humor   

n.(humour)幽默，诙谐

参考例句：

• He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
• American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。

13 motes   

n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点

参考例句：

• In those warm beams the motes kept dancing up and down. 只见温暖的光芒里面，微细的灰尘在上下飞扬。 来自辞典例句
• So I decided to take lots of grammar motes in every class. 因此我决定每堂课多做些语法笔记。 来自互联网

14 critic   

n.批评家，评论家；爱挑剔的人

参考例句：

• The critic classed him with the best writers of the age.评论家把他列入当代第一流的作家的行列之中。
• He became a fierce critic of the tobacco industry.他成了烟草业的强烈反对者。

15 critics   

n.批评家( critic的名词复数 )；评论员；批评者；挑剔的人

参考例句：

• He felt no animosity towards his critics. 他对批评他的人并不心怀怨恨。
• The move was widely seen as an attempt to appease critics of the regime. 普遍认为，这一举措是试图安抚批评政权的人。

16 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

17 mentally   

adv.精神上，理智上，在心中

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Male nurses are often employed in hospitals for the mentally ill.精神病院常雇用男护士护理精神病人。

18 violence   

n.暴力，暴虐，暴行，猛烈，强烈，强暴

参考例句：

• It was an absolutely senseless act of violence.这是毫无意义的暴力行为。
• They attacked with violence.他们猛烈攻击。

19 denying   

v.拒绝( deny的现在分词 )；拒绝承认；拒绝…占有；否认知情

参考例句：

• The President issued a terse statement denying the charges. 总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。
• It's no use denying it; the evidence is conclusive. 证据确凿，不容狡赖。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点

21 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

22 workman   

n.工人，工匠，技工

参考例句：

• A bad workman finds much fault with his tools.蹩脚的工匠总是埋怨自己的工具不好。
• There was a workman up the ladder.有一个工人在梯子上工作。

23 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

24 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

25 cruelty   

n.残忍；残酷

参考例句：

• He was treated with great cruelty.他受到残酷虐待。
• Mercy to the enemies means cruelty to the people.对敌人的仁慈就意味着对人民的残忍。

26 protection   

n.保护，防卫，保护制度

参考例句：

• The protection of the country is the duty of everyone.保卫国家是每个人的责任。
• The young in our society need care and protection.我们社会的年轻人需要关怀和照顾。

27 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

28 deeply   

adv.深刻地，在深处，深沉地

参考例句：

• I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
• We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们，我们感到很荣幸。