The Comforts of Home

"The Comforts of Home"
Author	Flannery O'Connor
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Southern Gothic
Published in	Everything That Rises Must Converge
Publication type	single author anthology
Publication date	1965

"The Comforts of Home" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was written in 1960 and published in 1965 in her short story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.

Plot summary

The main character is Thomas, a history writer who lives with his mother. His mother takes pity on Sarah Ham (who calls herself Star Drake), a young woman who has been arrested and jailed for passing bad checks. Thomas' mother hires an attorney to parole the girl and finds a boarding house where Sarah can live. After Sarah gets kicked out of the boarding house for drunkenness, Thomas’ mother invites the girl to live with them despite her son's objections. After various conflicts, during which Sarah seems to act flirtatiously toward Thomas, Thomas gets the sheriff to agree to remove her once he notices that his handgun is missing from his room. Before the sheriff arrives, Thomas notices that the gun has been returned. He decides to plant the gun in Sarah's purse in order to get her removed anyway, but while doing so, he ends up discharging the gun at Sarah while Thomas' mother jumps in front of her and is killed. The police arrive and arrest Thomas.^[1]

References

↑ Richard Giannone, Flannery O'Connor, hermit novelist (University of Illinois Press, 2000)

Works by Flannery O'Connor

Novels

Wise Blood (1952)
The Violent Bear It Away (1960)

Short story
collections

A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955)	"A Good Man is Hard to Find" "The River" "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" "A Stroke of Good Fortune" "A Temple of the Holy Ghost" "The Artificial Nigger" "A Circle in the Fire" "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" "Good Country People" "The Displaced Person"

Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965)	"Everything That Rises Must Converge" "Greenleaf" "A View of the Woods" "The Enduring Chill" "The Comforts of Home" "The Lame Shall Enter First" "Revelation" "Parker's Back" "Judgement Day"

Previously unavailable stories included in The Complete Stories (1971)	"The Geranium" "The Barber" "Wildcat" "The Crop" "The Turkey" "The Train" "The Peeler" "The Heart of the Park" "Enoch and the Gorilla" "You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead" "The Partridge Festival" "Why Do the Heathen Rage?"

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