One of O’Connor’s famous twisted twist endings. I read this first in a class at Duke in 1995 and have thought about it, and several other of O’Connor’s short stories, many times since. Her jarring images have staying power. The Southern gothic & grotesque styles used in this story are most powerful because the blood violence is only a flashback. The violence done within the story’s main timeline is the linked removal of pride and a bloodless body part.