Synaptic

Writing Objective: Write a 4-6 page original analytical paper on the subject of your oral report to the class.

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Mr. Head and his grandson Nelson start their journey to the city as men who are incapable of showing mercy to each other or anyone else in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “The Artificial Nigger.” But as they travel through the city both Mr. Head and Nelson experience actions of mercy from outside sources and then ultimately feel the effects of mercy while looking at the artificial Negro statue. Mr. Head and Nelson share a sense of suffering with the artificial Negro, which allows them to realize that not only are they are worthy of mercy, but also that they should incorporate it into their lives.

Mercy Is a difficult term to define; it has many components that must work together to create the true nature of mercy. Some facets of mercy include compassion, genuine love, and the desire to relieve misery. Therefore when considering if Mr. Head and Nelson show mercy, it is crucial to look for these aspects of mercy in their actions: if these are not found then perhaps Mr. Head and Nelson are lacking the quality of mercy in their lives. In the Catholic Encyclopedia mercy is described as The compassionate sorrow at another’s misfortune together with a will to alleviate it; it is genuine love in a relation to an unhappy being. The encounter of love and misery give birth to mercy. Compassion itself is not the virtue of mercy. For the virtue, a genuine effort to relieve the misfortune of others in all forms is demanded. (673) So are Mr. Head and Nelson lacking the quality of mercy before they travel to the city and view the artificial Negro? An examination of their actions seems to suggest that they do not incorporate mercy in their lives. Mr. Head claims the trip would “be a lesson that the boy would never forget” (211) yet It seems that Mr. Head has conceived the trip more because he thinks he has the “calm understanding of life that makes him a suitable guide for the young” (210). The trip then ceases to be a helpful experience for Nelson but becomes a chance for Mr. Head to show off his self-proclaimed knowledge of the world. Mr. Head also tells Nelson that the city is full of “niggers” and that Nelson will not know one when he sees one because, as Mr. Head adds, “there ain’t been a nigger in this county since we run that one out twelve years ago” (212). Mr. Head appears to show no love or compassion for black people, a fact that he is proud of. Also, he does not seem to realize that he should have any mercy for them.

Nelson does not appear to be motivated by mercy or love either. He wants to go to the city because he was born there, and is proud of this fact. As Mr. Head says. Nelson “had no cause for pride merely because he had been born in the city” (211). Also Nelson “was a child who was never satisfied until he had given an impudent answer” (211). Nelson is portrayed as worldly-wise: his “look was ancient as if he knew everything already and would be pleased to forget it” (212). So Nelson seems to be spurred on by the emotion of pride and impudence, not compassion and mercy.

While on the train Mr. Head continues his facade of an all-knowing guide. He loses no time in pointing out the “huge coffee-colored man” (215) who walks down the center of the train car past Nelson. But while Nelson listens to Mr. Head talk about the black man in a derogatory manner, Nelson “had a sudden foreboding that he was not going to enjoy the day” (216). At this point Nelson seems to momentarily doubt that Mr. Head’s feelings are the correct way to view blacks. But the following minute sees Nelson’s faith in Mr. Head’s judgments restored as he adopts Mr. Head’s attitude about blacks; Nelson “hated [the black man] with a fierce raw fresh hate; and also, he understood now why his grandfather disliked them” (216).

When the men reach the heart of the city, they become lost Mr. Head refuses to admit it, but Nelson stops to ask a black woman for help. This is an important encounter for Nelson, and he seems to realize that black people are not how Mr. Head described them. The black woman is kind to Nelson and shows him compassion when she gives him directions to the streetcar. O’Connor had the following comments about this pivotal scene in a letter to Ben Griffith- . . . but I meant for her in an almost physical way to suggest the mystery of existence to [Nelson]—he not only has never seen a nigger but he doesn’t know any women and I felt that such a black mountain of maternity would give him the required shock to start those black forms moving up from his unconsciousness. (931) After Nelson’s experience with the “black mountain of maternity”, he seems to be at a crossroads. Nelson perhaps realizes he can continue to follow Mr. Head’s bigoted lifestyle or he can be directed by the “black forms moving up from his unconsciousness.” These “black forms” perhaps suggest the beginning of the ability to feel mercy. A struggle takes place within Nelson as he walks away from Mr. Head, remembering “all the foreboding feelings he had on the way” (223) which seems to suggest that he is beginning to reject Mr. Head’s way of living. But Nelson then remembers his “grandfather’s [ticket] had said he was upright and brave . . . [Nelson] took hold of the old man’s hand, a sign of dependence he seldom showed” (223). So his inner conflict continues, with Nelson following what is known to him a while longer, but still considering his experience with the black woman. Nelson reaches a deciding point in his conflict when Mr. Head denies his association with Nelson. After Nelson knocks the woman down Mr. Head tells her, “This is not my boy … I’ve never seen him before” (226). Nelson now realizes that his grandfather really is incapable of showing mercy or compassion to anyone, black or white, relative or stranger. Nelson is very upset and hurt by Mr. Head’s actions, so he walks away and refuses to talk to him. Yet Nelson feels “from some remote place inside of him, a black mysterious form reach up, as if it would melt his frozen vision in one hot grasp” (228). This “form” remains nameless, but it seems to echo the feeling O’Connor wrote about in her letter concerning the black woman. Perhaps the “form” is the beginning of Nelson’s ability to feel mercy; the feeling was awakened in him after his experience with the black woman and resurfaces now as he considers Mr. Head’s actions which Nelson perhaps feels deserves mercy.

Mr. Head still does not seem to realize that he should have shown mercy and concentrates only on how he can win Nelson back. This is a new experience for Mr. Head because he feels that “[he] had never disgraced himself before” (227). He tries to get Nelson to forgive him by offering material things (Coco-Cola, water) but they have no effect on him. When Nelson refuses to drink from the same water spigot as his grandfather, Mr. Head “lost all hope” (228). Eventually, Mr. Head does give up his pride and falls to his knees yelling, “Oh Gawd I’m lostl Oh hep me Gawd I’m lost!” (228). By asking for help, Mr. Head is essentially asking for mercy. Now it seems that he has become aware of mercy, and realizes he needs to experience it in order to regain Nelson’s love.

After getting directions, Mr. Head approaches Nelson, but Nelson rebuffs him. This causes Mr. Head to give up, feeling “he knew what time would be like without seasons . . . what man would be like without salvation” (229), and then he sees the artificial Negro. Both Mr. Head and Nelson gaze at it and feel “it dissolving their differences like an action of mercy” (230). As they look at the artificial Negro together, they stand “there with their necks forward at almost the same angle and their shoulders curved In almost exactly the same way and their hands trembling identically in their pockets” (230). They seem to be brought together again, becoming united with each other as they share their misery. There is also a sense that they resemble the artificial Negro, as he is described as having “a wild look of misery” (229) about him, just as Mr. Head and Nelson have been miserable. These physical similarities perhaps suggest the spiritual unity they share which is the brotherhood formed when misery and mercy are experienced. The men seem to see something of their own suffering in the artificial Negro, and this prompts them to feel mercy toward each other. The Idea of sharing misery and mercy with others is included in the definition of mercy Another’s distress becomes one’s own because the one is united and in a sense identified with oneself’ (Catholic Encyclopedia 673). So perhaps as Mr. Head and Nelson feel mercy toward the artificial Negro, they realize that they deserve mercy also. They have become part of a brotherhood, a larger community made up of people who have suffered. O’Connor seems to contemplate a similar function for the artificial Negro in a letter to Ben Griffith: “What I had in mind to suggest with the artificial Negro was the redemptive quality of the Negro’s suffering for all of us” (931). So just as the Negro has suffered for Mr. Head and Nelson, they also have suffered for the Negro. And when they show mercy, love and compassion to the people around them, they are also treating themselves with these qualities.

Mr. Head continues to think about his experience with mercy and the artificial Negro when he gets home. He begins to realize that he has the ability to give and receive mercy because he is a part of the suffering community and also a part of the community which is merciful. Mr. Head “understood that [mercy] grew out of agony” (230) and “that it was all a man could carry into death to give his Master, and he was suddenly burned with shame that he had so little of it to take with him” (230). Now that he has experienced mercy in his life he feels able to judge “himself with the thoroughness of God” (231) and finds that he is a sinner. Mr. Head “realized that he was forgiven for sins from the beginning of time, when he had conceived in his own heart the sin of Adam, until the present, when he had denied poor Nelson” (231). Mr. Head seems to accept that he is a sinner and participated in original sin, but that through the mercy of God he will be redeemed because “mercy obtains pardon of sins in this life and the eternal possession of God in the life to come” (Catholic Encyclopedia 673). His belief in this allows him to see “that no sin was too monstrous for him to claim as his own,” (231) and so now he understands and accepts his “true depravity,” (231) presents it to God and the world, and joins the community of people in which everyone is a sinner but also has the choice to be redeemed.