Key Takeaways
1. The Short Story as a Unique Literary Form
"The short story has never had a hero.… What it has instead is a submerged population group—a bad phrase which I have had to use for want of a better."
Defining the Short Story's Essence. Unlike the novel, the short story is not about representative characters or societal norms. It is a form that focuses on marginalized, isolated individuals who exist outside mainstream society. The short story's power lies in its ability to capture moments of profound human experience that transcend traditional narrative structures.
Distinctive Characteristics. The short story differs from the novel in several key ways:
- It focuses on specific moments rather than entire life trajectories
- It prioritizes intensity over comprehensive character development
- It often reveals universal truths through highly specific, localized experiences
Artistic Intentionality. The short story requires a more precise and deliberate artistic approach. Authors must carefully select moments that can suggest the totality of human experience, creating a form that is more concentrated and potentially more powerful than the expansive novel.
2. The Importance of the "Submerged Population"
"Always in the short story there is this sense of outlawed figures wandering about the fringes of society, superimposed sometimes on symbolic figures whom they caricature and echo—Christ, Socrates, Moses."
Marginal Voices. The concept of the "submerged population" is central to understanding the short story's unique narrative approach. These are individuals who exist on the margins of society, often overlooked or misunderstood by mainstream cultural narratives. Their experiences reveal deeper truths about human existence.
Diverse Manifestations:
- Gogol's low-ranking clerks
- Chekhov's doctors and teachers
- Turgenev's serfs
- Maupassant's prostitutes
- Anderson's provincial dreamers
Symbolic Significance. These marginalized characters are not just social critiques but represent broader human experiences of isolation, struggle, and resilience. They embody the universal human condition of feeling disconnected from societal expectations and structures.
3. The Short Story's Relationship to Loneliness and Isolation
"Le silence éternel de ces espaces infinis m'effraie." (The eternal silence of those infinite spaces terrifies me.)
Existential Exploration. The short story is uniquely positioned to explore human loneliness, capturing moments of profound isolation that reveal fundamental aspects of human experience. Unlike novels, which often provide comfort through narrative resolution, short stories embrace the raw, unresolved nature of human existence.
Psychological Dimensions:
- Revealing inner emotional landscapes
- Exploring the gap between individual experience and societal expectations
- Presenting characters who cannot be easily understood or categorized
Narrative Strategy. Short story writers use techniques that heighten the sense of isolation, such as:
- Fragmentary narration
- Moments of unexpected revelation
- Emphasis on internal psychological states
- Rejection of conventional narrative closure
4. The Evolution of Storytelling Techniques
"One can put this crudely by saying that the form of the novel is given by the length; in the short story the length is given by the form."
Technical Innovation. Short story writers continuously develop new narrative techniques to capture complex human experiences. The form demands extraordinary artistic precision, requiring authors to create entire worlds and emotional landscapes within limited space.
Key Developmental Strategies:
- Experimental narrative structures
- Innovative use of language
- Focus on moment-driven storytelling
- Rejection of traditional plot progression
Artistic Progression. The short story evolves through writers' continuous experimentation, challenging existing narrative conventions and exploring new ways of representing human experience.
5. The Challenge of Escaping One's Origins
"The saddest thing about the short story is the eagerness with which those who write it best try to escape from it."
Personal and Artistic Struggle. Many great short story writers experience a tension between their origins and artistic ambitions. This struggle often manifests as an attempt to transcend the social and economic circumstances of their background.
Psychological Dynamics:
- Desire for social mobility
- Artistic self-reinvention
- Confronting class limitations
- Negotiating cultural expectations
Transformative Potential. The attempt to escape one's origins becomes a powerful creative force, driving artistic innovation and personal growth.
6. The Role of Personal Experience in Writing
"In literature as in life he was a difficult man; diffident and evasive, hard to pin down to any positive statement."
Biographical Influence. Personal experiences profoundly shape a writer's narrative approach. The most compelling short stories emerge from deeply personal encounters, transformed through artistic imagination.
Key Interpretative Elements:
- Autobiographical fragments
- Psychological reinterpretation
- Emotional transmutation of experience
- Creating universal meaning from specific moments
Artistic Alchemy. Great writers transform personal experiences into broader human truths, using individual narratives to illuminate collective human conditions.
7. The Psychological Complexity of Character Development
"We are not damned for our mortal sins, which so often require courage and dignity, but by our venial sins, which we can more easily conceal from ourselves."
Nuanced Character Exploration. Short stories excel at revealing the subtle psychological complexities of human behavior, focusing on minor actions and seemingly insignificant moments that reveal deeper character truths.
Psychological Insights:
- Exploring unconscious motivations
- Revealing character through small gestures
- Challenging simplistic moral judgments
- Highlighting the complexity of human nature
Narrative Depth. By concentrating on psychological nuance, short stories provide profound insights into human behavior that transcend traditional character development.
8. The Tension Between Artistic Form and Social Context
"The novel can still adhere to the classical concept of civilized society, of man as an animal who lives in a community, [but] the short story remains by its very nature remote from the community—romantic, individualistic, and intransigent."
Artistic Resistance. Short stories often challenge societal norms by presenting narratives that resist conventional social expectations. They provide a platform for exploring alternative perspectives and marginal experiences.
Social Critique Methods:
- Challenging dominant narratives
- Presenting alternative viewpoints
- Highlighting systemic inequalities
- Revealing hidden social dynamics
Artistic Independence. The short story form allows for greater artistic freedom, enabling writers to critique social structures without being constrained by narrative expectations.
9. The Impact of War and Social Change on Storytelling
"The short story represents a struggle with Time—the novelist's Time; it is an attempt to reach some point of vantage from which past and future are equally visible."
Historical Transformation. Wars and social changes profoundly impact storytelling, forcing writers to develop new narrative techniques to represent radically altered human experiences.
Narrative Adaptations:
- Responding to societal trauma
- Developing new linguistic approaches
- Exploring psychological fragmentation
- Representing collective experiences
Artistic Resilience. Writers continuously adapt their storytelling techniques to make sense of rapidly changing social landscapes.
10. The Storyteller's Struggle with Identity and Expression
"We become what we sing."
Artistic Self-Discovery. The process of writing is fundamentally a journey of personal and artistic identity, where writers continually negotiate between their inner experiences and external artistic expression.
Identity Exploration:
- Negotiating personal and artistic self
- Transforming biographical experiences
- Developing unique narrative voices
- Challenging personal and artistic limitations
Creative Emergence. The most compelling storytelling emerges from a deep engagement with one's own complex, often contradictory identity.
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FAQ
1. What is The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story by Frank O’Connor about?
- Exploration of the Short Story Form: The book is a critical study of the short story as a unique literary form, distinct from the novel and other genres.
- Focus on the “Submerged Population”: O’Connor argues that the short story typically centers on characters who are outsiders or members of a “submerged population group,” rather than traditional heroes.
- Comparative Literary Analysis: The book examines the works of major short story writers such as Gogol, Turgenev, Chekhov, Maupassant, Joyce, Hemingway, and others to illustrate its points.
- Blend of Criticism and Personal Reflection: O’Connor combines literary criticism with personal insights, drawing on his own experiences as a writer and teacher.
2. Why should I read The Lonely Voice by Frank O’Connor?
- Unique Perspective on Short Stories: O’Connor offers a distinctive and influential theory about what makes the short story different from other forms, especially the novel.
- Insight for Writers and Readers: The book provides valuable advice for aspiring writers and deepens readers’ appreciation of the short story’s craft and purpose.
- Engaging Literary Criticism: O’Connor’s style is accessible, witty, and passionate, making complex ideas enjoyable to read.
- Historical and Cultural Context: The book situates the short story within broader literary and social movements, enhancing understanding of its evolution.
3. What are the key takeaways from The Lonely Voice by Frank O’Connor?
- Short Story’s Focus on Loneliness: The short story is characterized by its focus on isolated, marginalized, or “submerged” individuals, rather than societal norms or heroes.
- Form Follows Content: In short stories, the length is determined by the material and form, not by external conventions or expectations.
- Contrast with the Novel: Novels often depict a “normal” society and a central hero, while short stories remain on the fringes, exploring the lives of outsiders.
- Artistic and Moral Dimensions: O’Connor sees the act of writing short stories as having a moral dimension, challenging both writer and reader to confront human loneliness and difference.
4. How does Frank O’Connor define the short story in The Lonely Voice?
- No Traditional Hero: O’Connor claims the short story “has never had a hero,” focusing instead on “submerged population groups.”
- Emphasis on Human Loneliness: The short story is marked by an “intense awareness of human loneliness,” often depicting outlawed or marginalized figures.
- Flexible Form: There is no essential form for the short story; each story’s structure is dictated by the needs of its content.
- Contrast with the Novel: Unlike the novel, which is about integration into society, the short story is about individuals who exist outside or on the fringes of society.
5. What is the concept of the “submerged population group” in The Lonely Voice?
- Definition: O’Connor uses “submerged population group” to describe the typical subjects of short stories—people who are outsiders, marginalized, or otherwise not part of the mainstream.
- Examples in Literature: He cites Gogol’s clerks, Turgenev’s serfs, Maupassant’s prostitutes, Chekhov’s doctors and teachers, and Anderson’s small-town dreamers as examples.
- Significance: This focus distinguishes the short story from the novel, which usually centers on more integrated or “heroic” figures.
- Moral and Social Implications: By giving voice to the voiceless, the short story becomes a vehicle for empathy and social critique.
6. How does O’Connor contrast the short story with the novel in The Lonely Voice?
- Societal Focus: Novels typically depict a “normal” society and a central character who interacts with it, while short stories focus on those outside the norm.
- Form and Length: The novel’s form is determined by its length, but in the short story, the length is determined by the form and material.
- Character Identification: Novels encourage reader identification with the protagonist; short stories often present characters with whom identification is difficult or impossible.
- Narrative Scope: Novels can encompass a whole life or society, while short stories capture a moment or a single, significant episode.
7. What advice does Frank O’Connor give to writers of short stories in The Lonely Voice?
- Focus on Exposition, Development, and Drama: O’Connor identifies these as the three necessary elements of a story, advising writers to ensure all are present.
- Let Form Follow Material: Writers should allow the story’s content to dictate its length and structure, rather than adhering to arbitrary conventions.
- Avoid Over- or Under-Preparation: Too much or too little exposition can weaken a story; the challenge is to provide just enough information for the reader’s moral imagination.
- Embrace the Moral Dimension: O’Connor encourages writers to see storytelling as a behavior with an essentially moral aspect, not just a technical exercise.
8. How does O’Connor analyze major short story writers in The Lonely Voice?
- Gogol and the “Little Man”: O’Connor credits Gogol’s “The Overcoat” with introducing the archetype of the marginalized protagonist.
- Chekhov’s Moral Subtlety: Chekhov is praised for his exploration of loneliness, venial sins, and the “false personality.”
- Maupassant’s Obsessions: O’Connor discusses Maupassant’s focus on sexual outsiders and the dangers of exploiting one’s subject matter.
- Joyce, Hemingway, and Others: The book examines how later writers like Joyce and Hemingway adapted and transformed the short story form, often moving away from the “submerged population” focus.
9. What are some of the most important quotes from The Lonely Voice and what do they mean?
- “In fact, the short story has never had a hero.… What it has instead is a submerged population group—a bad phrase which I have had to use for want of a better.”
This encapsulates O’Connor’s central thesis about the short story’s focus on outsiders. - “For the short story writer there is no such thing as essential form. Because his frame of reference can never be the totality of a human life, he must be forever selecting the point at which he can approach it…”
O’Connor emphasizes the flexibility and experimental nature of the short story form. - “The eternal silence of those infinite spaces terrifies me.” (Pascal, quoted by O’Connor)
This quote is used to illustrate the existential loneliness at the heart of the short story. - “One can put this crudely by saying that the form of the novel is given by the length; in the short story the length is given by the form.”
O’Connor succinctly distinguishes the structural logic of the two forms.
10. How does O’Connor’s own experience as a writer and teacher influence The Lonely Voice?
- Personal Anecdotes: O’Connor draws on his own struggles and successes as a short story writer to illustrate his points.
- Teaching Insights: He shares practical advice and observations from teaching creative writing, emphasizing the challenges of defining and teaching the short story.
- Empathy for Outsiders: His background as an Irish writer from a “submerged population” informs his empathy for marginalized characters.
- Critical but Non-Systematic Approach: O’Connor’s method is intuitive and personal, often favoring insight and anecdote over strict theory.
11. What is O’Connor’s view on the future and limitations of the short story, according to The Lonely Voice?
- Ongoing Evolution: O’Connor sees the short story as a modern, still-evolving form, not bound by tradition or fixed rules.
- Loneliness of the Form: He notes that the best short story writers often try to escape the form’s inherent loneliness, sometimes abandoning it for other genres.
- Editorial and Market Pressures: O’Connor warns that commercial expectations (like arbitrary word limits) can harm the integrity of the short story.
- Enduring Relevance: Despite challenges, he believes the short story will persist as long as there are writers and readers interested in the fate of outsiders.
12. What practical methods or exercises does O’Connor recommend for aspiring short story writers in The Lonely Voice?
- Subject Before Treatment: O’Connor advises writers to focus first on the subject, summarizing it in a few lines before beginning to write.
- Distinguish Between Conte and Nouvelle: He encourages writers to decide whether their material is best suited to a single scene (conte) or a longer, more developed form (nouvelle).
- Draft and Revise Extensively: O’Connor stresses the importance of rewriting, often revising his own stories dozens of times.
- Balance Imagination and Restraint: He suggests “banking down” creative fire until the writer knows exactly what the story is about, to avoid digressions and unnecessary passages.
Review Summary
The Lonely Voice is a highly regarded exploration of the short story form. Readers praise O'Connor's insightful analysis of various authors and his theories on the genre's unique qualities. Many find it essential reading for writers and enthusiasts of short fiction. Critics appreciate O'Connor's wit and erudition, though some note outdated views. The book's examination of loneliness and "submerged populations" in short stories is particularly lauded. While some essays are considered tedious, overall the book is valued for its literary criticism and enduring relevance.
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