Thoughts on The Lame Shall Enter First

When Flannery O’Connor wrote “The Lame Shall Enter First” she constructed a challenging and thoughtful story full of hypocrisy, tragedy and reality. I have never read a story quite like this one in my life. It almost angered me the way Sheppard was so hypocritical and self-righteous but couldn’t even see it. He instead was so convinced of how unselfish and sacrificial he was. It really bothered me how he thought that he could reach out to another boy, when it seemed that he was not even trying to pursue a decent relationship with his own son. From my perspective, Rufus seemed to have more wisdom and common sense than Sheppard did. And it appeared to me that Sheppard hardly ever hosted the right motives for his actions.

What shocked me the most about this story was the way O’Connor ended it. I didn’t think that Sheppard would ever see how much his own son was starving for his fathers’ attention, but when he finally came to his senses, it was tragically and unfortunately too late. The ending by far, threw me for a loop and mad me sad to think that Sheppard never really believed in Norton but instead put all of his time and interest into someone (like Rufus) who really didn’t seem to appreciate it.