This volume presents an analysis of recurrent character types in Flannery O'Connor's short fiction, and "follows fallen men along the path leading to their redemption." The author expands on his premise that Flannery O'Connor depicts the human body as "ugly." He contends that O'Connor viewed her characters as "monsters who assail" and her readers caught "in the gruesome show of the puppet life through which they totter." The author suggests that her plots "could easily turn into nightmares" as the scenes she depicts "come to life not so much with people as with ghastly substitutes." He argues that even when Flannery O'Connor's characters are not crippled, they "appear as caricatures" because -- for her -- the human body is essentially deprived of, and not worthy of "dignity or respectability." The author closes with the suggestion that O'Connor's depiction of "physical ugliness and suffering, horrible events, and violent deaths should not distress the over-sensitive reader, " but be seen instead as opportunities for each of her characters to accept or reject Christ's offer of redemption and salvation.