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 were thinking about how the world was coping with these 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 20th-century readers with the haunting style and piercing questions of his short stories and novels, 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, into one of Georgia's oldest and most prominent Catholic families. She was the only child 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 always had a close relationship and 15-year-old Flannery was devastated (Gordon). Catholicism has always been an important aspect of the O'Connor family's life, living across the street from a cathedral and growing up in the Bible Belt (Liukkonen). Flannery attended parochial schools until entering Georgia State College for Women, where she participated in an accelerated three-year program as a day student (Gordon). She graduated with a degree in social sciences in 1945 and left Milledgeville for Iowa State University where she was accepted into Paul Engle's prestigious writers' workshop. (“Flannery O’Connor”). Flannery devoted herself to what she loved most, writing, although she spent much of her youth drawing for 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: Flannery O’Connor’s Short Fiction.” Pat's Lit Page. 1996. March 25, 2012. Gordon, Sarah. “Flannery O’Connor.” The Encyclopedia of New Georgia. Georgia College and State University. March 3, 2009. Archived from the original on 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. Welborn, Amy. "Flannery O'Connor: Stalking the Pride." Our Sunday visitor. August 8, 1999. March 25 2012..