The Violent Bear It Away

Mason Tarwater, an outspoken evangelist and self-ordained prophet, dies many years after kidnapping his great-nephew Francis, raising him in a backwoods cabin and preparing him to someday take his place as a prophet. Prior to his death, Mason asked the now-teenaged Francis to give him a proper Christian burial with a cross marking the grave so that his body would be resurrected on Judgment Day. Francis starts to dig the grave but suddenly hears a "Voice" in his head telling him to forget about the old man. Francis obeys and gets drunk instead. When Francis wakes from his drunken sleep, he sets the cabin on fire with his great-uncle's body still inside. He leaves for the city and gets a ride from a salesman, who drops him off at his Uncle Rayber's house.

Rayber, a well-educated schoolteacher, is amazed to see young Francis, whom he had long ago given up on after his kidnapping by Mason. Francis is also greeted at the door by Rayber's young son Bishop, who (it is implied) has Down syndrome and low intelligence. Bishop is Rayber's child with Bernice Bishop, a meddlesome social worker whom Mason had referred to as "the welfare woman". The old man had previously told Francis that Bernice was much older than Rayber and only able to give him one disabled child, and that God had mercy on the child by making him "dim-witted", which was the only way to protect him from his evil parents. Mason had commissioned Francis to baptize Bishop at some point, in order to save the little boy's soul. Due to this history, Francis is immediately put on edge when confronted with Bishop, but decides to stay with his uncle anyway. Francis does not think of Bishop as a human being and finds him repulsive.

The three begin to live together as a family for a while, and Rayber is excited to have his nephew back in order to raise him as a normal boy and provide him with a proper education. However, Francis resists his uncle's attempts at secular reform very much the same way he resisted Mason's attempts at religious reform. Rayber understands what Francis is going through, as he himself had been kidnapped as a child by Mason, but Rayber's father had managed to rescued him.

After many attempts by Rayber to "civilize" the reluctant Tarwater, and many attempts by Tarwater to figure out his true destiny (either as a prophet, which was his great-uncle's wish, or as an enlightened, educated modern man, which is his uncle Rayber's wish), Rayber devises a plan to take Tarwater back to the farm where Tarwater had been raised in the hope that confronting his past will allow him to leave it behind. Under the guise of taking the two boys out to a country lodge to go fishing, Rayber finally confronts Tarwater, telling him that he must accept an ordinary life and ignore the superstitious Christian upbringing and the false destiny with which his great-uncle has corrupted him. Tarwater, however, is not so easily convinced. While at the lodge, he again hears the "Voice" (the devil) who tells Tarwater to forsake his great-uncle's command to baptize Bishop and to drown the boy instead. One evening, Tarwater takes Bishop out on a boat to the middle of the lake, with Rayber's reluctant blessing. Rayber cannot see them on the lake but can still hear their voices. Tarwater ends up drowning Bishop while at the same time baptizing the boy, thereby fulfilling both destinies simultaneously. Rayber realizes what has happened and faints, not out of fear for his son's life, but because he feels nothing at his son's death.

Tarwater runs away into the woods and tries to make his way back to his great-uncle's house to confront his demons once and for all. He eventually hitches a ride with another man, who entices Tarwater to get drunk. Tarwater takes the man's offer and passes out, eventually waking up naked against a tree with his clothes neatly folded beside him. He dresses hurriedly and sets fire to the area.

Burning his way through the forest, Tarwater finally makes his way back to Powderhead, his great-uncle's old farm, where he finds the cabin has burned to the ground. Tarwater had assumed that his great-uncle had been burned up with it, but Buford, a black man who lived nearby, had actually rescued old Mason Tarwater's body from the house while Tarwater was drunk at the beginning of the novel, and gave the old man a proper Christian burial just as he had requested. Tarwater realizes that his great-uncle's two main requests (that he be given a proper burial and that Tarwater's nephew Bishop be baptized) have been realized, which convinces Tarwater that he can no longer run away from his calling to be a prophet. The story ends with Tarwater heading toward the city to fulfill his calling to "Go warn the children of God of the terrible speed of mercy."

The novel's title is taken from a verse of the Douay Bible:

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.

— Matthew 11:12

There are various explanations of the meaning of this verse. The most accepted explanation is that violence constantly attacks God and heaven and that only those who are "violent with the love of God" can bear heaven away. This is seen when Tarwater drowns Bishop. He commits a violent act, but the "accidental" baptism is a powerful act of violent love for God—which bears away the crime of murder.[2]

Another possible meaning is that both secularism and fundamentalism (that is, the Protestant functioning outside of the Roman Catholic Church) are heresy, which blinds their adherents to God's truth. When God's grace comes into contact with an errant life, a violent revelation occurs. Falsehood and heresy are burnt off, and the sinner then sees the truth clearly. Those who suffer this spiritual violence bear the kingdom of God with them as they go through the world.[3]

• Francis Marion Tarwater: The protagonist of the story. Kidnapped by his great-uncle at a young age, he has been raised under the single-minded premise that his destiny is to become a prophet. At first greatly frustrated by the notion of being forced to subscribe to a pre-ordained fate, he vows to do anything he can to prevent it from happening. Francis does not fit the role of a hero, strictly speaking, but is the central figure in the novel.
• Rayber: The main antagonist of the story. He is a staunchly anti-religious schoolteacher and lives a secular lifestyle. He is the uncle of Tarwater and the father of Bishop. He tries to protect Tarwater and Bishop from baptism and the old man's corrupting influence, but ultimately fails.
• Bishop: An intellectually disabled child who is the son of Rayber and the cousin of Tarwater. Tarwater was raised with the belief that it is his destiny to baptize Bishop, whereas Rayber struggles to prevent this from happening.
• Mason Tarwater: The great-uncle of Tarwater and Bishop and the uncle of Rayber. A fanatically religious self-ordained prophet, he raised Tarwater to follow in his footsteps. His death at the beginning of the novel spurs Tarwater's quest of denial and redemption.
• The "friend": A voice in Tarwater's head representing rational, secular thinking, which he has been trained throughout his childhood to ignore. In her letters, O'Connor confirmed that this "friend" is Satan himself.[4]^:367
• The rapist: A passing motorist who offers Tarwater a ride near the end of the novel. It is strongly implied that he rapes and robs Tarwater, an act that ultimately brings Tarwater closer to his destiny. O'Connor also confirmed in her letters that the devil becomes physically "actualized in the man who gives Tarwater the lift toward the end."[4]^:375

Flannery O'Connor was a devout Catholic, and The Violent Bear It Away reflects her religious beliefs. It is filled with religious imagery and themes, ranging from the power of passion to the dominance of destiny.

The most obvious of the novel's themes is the idea that destiny and religion will dominate over the secular. O'Connor illustrates this well, demonstrating the power of Tarwater's destiny as it dominates every obstacle in its way; the drowning of Bishop is transformed to a baptism, Tarwater's rape turns to revelation, and the secular Rayber fails in every way.[5] The importance of passion is also linked with the power of religion. Tarwater is filled with passion; Rayber suppresses his. Thus, Tarwater succeeds and is redeemed, and Rayber is ultimately destroyed. This is shown when Bishop is killed; when he realizes that he has no love for his son, Rayber collapses.[5]

The idea that everything that destroys also creates is evident as well. Nearly every symbol and character in the book pulls Tarwater away from his destiny but also pushes him back. Rayber nearly succeeds in secularizing Tarwater, but he ultimately brings the boy back to Powderhead. The drowning of Bishop, the ultimate secular act, nearly destroys Tarwater's destiny, but the simultaneous baptism redeems it. Fire both destroys Powderhead and burns Tarwater's eyes clean. Water both drowns and baptizes. Everything that destroys, redeems.[6]

James Cantrell feels that O'Connor's Irish heritage is central to the novel, serving as the foundation of her exploration of the conflicts between Christ and secularism in America. He says, for example, the surname "Tarwater" is completely understood only by focusing on Irish culture and history.[7]

One possible reading of the novel offers cautionary tale about religious anti-intellectualism. Old Mason Tarwater epitomizes faith coupled with anti-intellectualism and spiritual pride, which brings about the whole series of unfortunate events depicted in the book. Rayber is a basically moral person, but abashed by the closed-minded and anti-intellectual approach to religion that was infused in is childhood draws him towards atheism.

• The Violent Bear It Away at Faded Page (Canada)