Flowering Judas

Flowering Judas

• "My life has been incredible. I don't believe a word of it."

• "I shall try to tell the truth, but the result will be fiction."

• "There are only three degrees of age- young, mature and remarkable."

• "I was right not to be afraid of any thief but myself, who will end by leaving me nothing."

• "It's a man's world, and you men can have it."

--Quotes by Katherine Anne Porter

Biography:

1890 Born in Texas- Callie Russell Porter, in extreme poverty

1905 During her childhood she attended a private school for only one year in San Antonio, but

held a lifelong claim to being educated in a convent school

1906 At 16, to escape her family and gain financial security, Porter married John Henry Koontz, a

railroad clerk, and converted to Catholicism. Divorced due to physical abuse but retained her

Catholicism.

1915 Changed her name to Katherine Anne after her grandmother, then later reinstated the “Porter”

1917 Began her journalism career in Fort Worth at the Critic

1918 Almost died during the influenza epidemic of 1918, depicted in Pale Horse, Pale Rider

1919 Porter moved to Greenwich Village, New York- ghost writer, children’s stories, screen writer

1920 Accepted a magazine job in Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution

1921 Porter left Mexico and returned to New York—considered a radical, asked to leave Mexico

1926 Porter married Ernest Stock, interior decorator and painter- ten years her junior-cheated on her

and gave her an STD

1929 Wrote “Flowering Judas”

1930 Porter returned to Mexico to write Ship of Fools and married Eugene Pressley, an aspiring writer

thirteen years her junior, they settled in Paris

1938 Got a divorce and immediately married husband #4, Albert Erskine, a graduate student and

business manager of the Southern Review and 20 years younger than Porter. Within a year, he

found out her real age, and divorced her.

1939 For the next 4 years, she tried to solve ongoing financial problems by negotiating advances for

work she never finished.

1943 Accepted appointment to Chair of Poetry at Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Late 40's and early 50's, Porter taught at Stanford and the University of Michigan—she fought with the

Administration, changed the course plan, talked mostly to only the students that interested her

intellect, and frequently did not attend class.

1964 United Artists bought the film rights to Ship of Fools for $400,000—can afford lavish lifestyle

1966 Porter wins Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne

Porter.

1970 Received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters and has a room in the library dedicated to

her at the University of Maryland.

1980 Katherine Anne Porter died

Primary Works

Flowering Judas, 1930

Flowering Judas and Other Stories, 1935

Pale Horse, Pale Rider, 1939

The Leaning Tower and Other Stories, 1944

The Days Before, 1952

Ship of Fools (novel), 1962

The Collected Essays and Occasional Writings of KAP, 1970

The Never Ending Wrong, 1977

A Few Remaining Points:

Often kept company with intellectuals and revolutionists

Wrote the last paragraph of her work first and filled in the rest

She didn’t see her own symbolism in her own work until it was done

Wrote "Flowering Judas" in 5 hours (7 pm-1 am)

Porter's relationships with men, included four failed marriages and numerous love affairs with younger, married or otherwise unsuitable men—She believed she wrote better if she “thought” she was in love.

Elements of Modernism:

• Unconventional writing: one place, one day (except for flashbacks)
• Focus on the mindset rather than events
• No resolution of conflict
• Tension between characters and a character’s own psyche
• At times, written in a stream of consciousness

Themes in "Flowering Judas":

• Traditionalism- independence and freedom versus traditional female roles

• Exotic- Romanticizes the story, located in Mexico

• Isolation and Alienation- Laura's refusal to fully engage in the activities around her

• Denial and Repression- Laura’s sexuality and her own psychology

• Apathy- Laura's inability to become enthusiastic about a cause

• Opportunism and Corruption- Braggioni's exploitation of his cause and its participants

• Cowardice- Eugenio's decision to end his pain by killing himself

• Betrayal and Guilt- Laura's reaction to Eugenio's death

• Death and Fear- Laura's fear of impending doom and her inability to live in the present

• Fanaticism-Mrs. Braggioni's devotion to her husband

Symbolism

Colors

Braggioni's size

Lace

White linen gown

The Judas Tree

Flower for the young suitor

The pistols

Duality in "Flowering Judas"

Religion Revolution

Children Prisoners

White Gown Dark Streets

Crying on the floor Sitting at the table

Delivering Messages Listening to Serenades

Awake/Conscious Asleep/Subconscious

Illusion Disillusion

Physical Psychological

Religious References:

foot-washing scene

Religious quotations "This is my body and my blood", "Follow me"

Judas, Judas tree

eating/drinking of the sacrament

practices her religion, tries to say her Hail Mary

Nun-like clothing, white linen nightgown

Sexual Imagery:

Pistols “oil and load his pistols”

belt “unbuckles his ammunition belt and spreads it laden across her knees”

cleaning cloth “the shells slipping through the cleaning cloth dipped in oil”

Braggioni curves his “swollen fingers around the throat of the guitar”

(paraphrased) Pistols are good, cannons are better, good dynamite is the best..he said as he strokes the pistol lying in her hand

Study Questions (Food for thought):

• Why is Laura considered “a murderer and a cannibal” for eating the Judas Tree flowers?

• What are the similarities and differences between the three female characters: Laura, Braggioni's Wife, and Lupe?

• Laura believes she is "not at home in the world". What does she mean by this statement?

• Why does Laura shout "No”? Do you think the realization of the dream will save her? Why do you think she is afraid to go back to sleep?

• Early in the story, Laura seems the idealistic, perfect revolutionary and Braggioni the disgusting, off-putting character. How do you view these characters by the end of the story?

Katherine Anne Porter

A Judas Tree