In the mid-1900s, America experienced many changes, from society and politics to religion and literature. Countries were dealing with the aftermath of World War II, and authors of the time reflected on how the world was dealing with the changes. Flannery O'Connor, a prominent Southern Catholic writer, was one of many who examined the society and shared its philosophies. O'Connor shocked his twentieth-century readers with the haunting style and penetrating questions of his short stories and novels, which centered on a combination of his life experiences, his deep Catholic faith, and the literature of the time. Mary Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925, to one of Georgia's oldest and most prominent Catholic families. She was the only daughter of Edward, a real estate appraiser, and Regina O'Connor. The year after the family moved to Milledgeville in 1940, Flannery's father contracted and died of lupus. She and her father had always had a close relationship and fifteen-year-old Flannery was devastated (Gordon). Catholicism has always been an important aspect of life for the O'Connor family, who lived across the street from a cathedral and grew up in the Bible Belt (Liukkonen). Flannery attended parochial schools until entering Georgia State College for Women, where she attended an accelerated three-year program as a day student (Gordon). She graduated with a degree in social sciences in 1945 and left Milledgeville for the State University of Iowa where she was accepted into Paul Engle's prestigious Writers Workshop. (“Flannery O'Connor”). Flannery devoted himself to what he loved most, writing, although he spent much of his youth drawing pictures to pursue a career as a cartoonist (Liukkonen). It was at this... middle of paper......www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/424730/Flannery-OConnor>.Galloway, Patrick. “The Dark Side of the Cross: The Short Fiction of Flannery O’Connor.” Pat's illuminated page. 1996. March 25, 2012..Gordon, Sarah. “Flannery O’Connor.” The New Encyclopedia of Georgia. Georgia College and State University. March 3, 2009. March 21, 2012..“Is Flannery O'Connor a Catholic writer?” Book blog. The Guardian. 2012. March 25, 2012..Liukkonen, Petri. "Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)." Books and writers. 2008. March 21, 2012..Welcome, Amy. “Flannery O'Connor: Pride on the Hunt. Our Sunday visitor. August 8, 1999. March 25 2012..