Violence is ubiquitous in American Fiction, especially in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Good Country People”, and “The Displaced Person” Flannery O’Connor highlights the choices people make within that violence can directly affect the results of that violence. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, through the character of Billy Pilgrim, extends choices around violence even further, suggesting that inaction is sometimes the best plan. Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men highlights how a combination of action and inaction, depending on the situation, can help or hurt someone when violence surrounds them.
","abstract_html":"<p>Violence is ubiquitous in American Fiction, especially in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Good Country People”, and “The Displaced Person” Flannery O’Connor highlights the choices people make within that violence can directly affect the results of that violence. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, through the character of Billy Pilgrim, extends choices around violence even further, suggesting that inaction is sometimes the best plan. Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men highlights how a combination of action and inaction, depending on the situation, can help or hurt someone when violence surrounds them.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Farrell, Lisa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Christopher White","Dr. Liam Lanigan","Dr. Bradley Smith"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:24:40Z","subjects":["American Literature","violence","Flannery O’Connor","Kurt Vonnegut","Cormac McCarthy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://opus.govst.edu/theses/159","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Christopher White","Dr. Liam Lanigan","Dr. Bradley Smith"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Farrell, Lisa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-01-31T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American Literature","violence","Flannery O’Connor","Kurt Vonnegut","Cormac McCarthy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://opus.govst.edu/theses/159"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Violence is ubiquitous in American Fiction, especially in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Good Country People”, and “The Displaced Person” Flannery O’Connor highlights the choices people make within that violence can directly affect the results of that violence. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, through the character of Billy Pilgrim, extends choices around violence even further, suggesting that inaction is sometimes the best plan. Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men highlights how a combination of action and inaction, depending on the situation, can help or hurt someone when violence surrounds them.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Violence & Volition: Choice, Acceptance, and Identity in Selected Works by Flannery O'Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, and Cormac McCarthy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Christopher White","Dr. Liam Lanigan","Dr. Bradley Smith"],"dc:creator":["Farrell, Lisa"],"dc:date.available":["2025-01-31T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Violence is ubiquitous in American Fiction, especially in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “Good Country People”, and “The Displaced Person” Flannery O’Connor highlights the choices people make within that violence can directly affect the results of that violence. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, through the character of Billy Pilgrim, extends choices around violence even further, suggesting that inaction is sometimes the best plan. Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men highlights how a combination of action and inaction, depending on the situation, can help or hurt someone when violence surrounds them.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://opus.govst.edu/theses/159"],"dc:subject":["American Literature","violence","Flannery O’Connor","Kurt Vonnegut","Cormac McCarthy"],"dc:title":["Violence & Volition: Choice, Acceptance, and Identity in Selected Works by Flannery O'Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, and Cormac McCarthy"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:24:40Z"}