Literary Roundtable: Reality Vs. Perception

Our hosts lead a discussion of perception vs. reality in Jonathan Franzen's "Crossroads" and Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People."

Hosts:

Joanna Grisham is an instructor in the Department of Languages & Literature at APSU. Joey holds an MFA in creative writing from Georgia College. She was named a finalist for the 2021-2022 Very Short Fiction Contest at the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival and a finalist for the 2021 Ember Chasm Review Flash Fiction Contest. Her work has appeared in Gleam, The Emerson Review, On the Run, The Write Launch, Construction Literary Magazine, and other places. Her first chapbook of poems, Phantoms, is forthcoming in 2023 from Finishing Line Press.

Gregory Glover is pastor at First Presbyterian Church. Greg holds a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary and is an avid reader.

Discussion Themes: Perception vs. Reality

1) How does the theme of perception vs. reality work in each text? What do we think we know about the characters in the beginning? What is revealed to be true? What do other characters think they know about each other vs. what do they find out? What about themselves?

2) How are the characters in both texts "good" and "not so good"? Aren't they just flawed humans? Do we have higher expectations for Christians when it comes to goodness? Clergypeople?

3) How is religion, particularly Christianity, portrayed in both texts?

4) What do both texts show us about family?