Paradox Lost and Paradox Regained: An Object Relations Analysis of Two Flannery O'Connor Mother-Child Dyads

This study uses two short stories by Flannery O'Connor to explore D. W. Winnicott's theory of early childhood development. This thesis proposes that the "inherited potential" of the individual is determined by the quality of the early maternal environment, especially during the period of Winnicott's first two paradoxical stages of development: Absolute Dependence and Relative Dependence. The mother-adult/child relationships in O'Connor's two short stories "Good Country People" and "The Endu...