The Barber
Flannery O’Connor wrote “The Barber” as part of her master’s thesis while in the University of Iowa’s Writers' Workshop. In November 1946, the university opened its own barbershop to accommodate African American students who were unable to get haircuts at local barbershops that Jim Crow laws prohibited them from patronizing. The university’s progressive move in racial politics created quite a stir in the Writers' Workshop as one member, the only African American participant, shared his experiences with the group of having to travel some twenty miles from the campus just to get a haircut. Despite her minimal exposure to the atmosphere of barbershops, O’Connor pulled from her knowledge of racial politics as a resident of the U.S. South to produce “The Barber,” a topical story mirrored after her own Iowa college town that deals with race and segregation. Noted by her Iowa friends and colleagues, O’Connor’s views on race were surprisingly progressive while she was in Iowa, and, according to biographer Brad Gooch, O’Connor joked that the president of the university, Virgil M. Hancher, who supported segregation, was the “president of the ‘Iowa Barber School’” (132). In addition to being one of the stories that earned O’Connor her Master of Fine Arts degree in June 1947, “The Barber” was also published posthumously in 1970 in the magazine The Atlantic.
Although “The Barber” never directly alludes to Christian theology, and O’Connor’s main purpose for the story surrounds race, various sections carry religious implications that allow for the use of a theological lens. For instance, Jacobs, a teacher of philosophy and Rayber’s coworker, serves as a possible Jesus-figure. Jacobs immediately demonstrates his passive unwillingness to argue over the political conflict seizing Dilton by refusing to engage Rayber in conversation about it. Instead, Jacobs simply states;
“I never argue."
"Well, I’m going to argue," Rayber said. "I’m going to say the right thing as fast as they can say the wrong. It’ll be a question of speed. Understand," he went on, "this is no mission of conversion; I’m defending myself."
"I understand that," Jacobs said. "I hope you’re able to do it."
"I’ve already done it! You read the paper. There it is." Rayber wondered if Jacobs were dense or preoccupied.
"Okay, then leave it there. Don’t spoil your complexion arguing with barbers."
"It’s got to be done," Rayber said.
Jacobs shrugged. (O’Connor 22)
Jacobs’ speech and body language in this passage reveal his passive demeanor toward the heated conflict. Jacobs’ short, choppy statements of “I never argue,” “I hope you’re able to do it,” and “Okay, then leave it there” (O’Connor 22) do not further the conversation as Rayber’s lengthy lines do. The submissive body language of Jacobs “jotting figures down on a record sheet all the time Rayber was reading” (O’Connor 21) and then shrugging at the end of the above scene signal both disinterest and a desire for a speedy conclusion to the conversation. Ultimately, Jacobs’ passivity parallels the gentle acquiescence Jesus preaches in the Gospel of Matthew. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus teaches that in the face of difference, people should avoid seeking revenge (Matt. 5.38-42 NLT), love their enemies (Matt. 5.43 NLT), and pray for those who wrong them (Matt. 5.44-45 NLT). Specifically, in Matthew 5:39, Jesus teaches that “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (ESV), meaning that people should not retaliate against their attackers in equality, but should turn away as a means of ending conflict. Jacobs, therefore, demonstrates this yielding behavior in his speech and body language and by ultimately refusing to engage in argument or debate with Rayber, thus paralleling his character to Jesus.
While scholars agree that the Bible takes a predominantly negative stance toward racial discrimination, the Bible, like any work of literature, is open to interpretation. As a result, societies since the Bible’s inception have used its language to both support and refute racism. Specifically in the United States, the Bible has unfortunately been hijacked to justify racism and slavery. For instance, Titus 2:9-10 says, “Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way” (NLT). Or, the more widely known Ephesians 6:5 says, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ” (NLT). Contrarily, there are numerous verses and passages in the Bible that condemn racial discrimination, including Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 41:45-52; Exodus 2:15-22; Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 10:30-37; Acts 17:26; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 3:6-9; and Revelation 7:9-12 (NLT). Ultimately, however, considering that the Bible can be interpreted from multiple perspectives, including an Old Testament versus a New Testament reading, Biblical passages can be used to both support and refute racism.
In reflecting on the University of Iowa, O’Connor uses “The Barber” to exhibit the racial division and tense atmosphere present in her own college town. Not only does the racial discrimination O’Connor paints reflect her own experiences, it also resembles the racial tension Jesus addresses in his ministry. The simple yet powerful racist statements made by Rayber’s adversaries in the barbershop capture their hatred toward African Americans, especially when one man pointedly asks Rayber, “How’d you like a couple of black faces looking at you from the back of your classroom?” (O’Connor 19). The racism in Dilton parallels the racism between Jews and Samaritans during Jesus’ time. Jesus, a Jew, undermines this most readily available example of racism by choosing to reveal himself as the Messiah for the first time to a Samaritan woman (John 4.26 NLT). When Jesus asks the woman for a drink at the well, “the woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans” (John 4.9 NLT). Instead of shunning her as a woman of another race, Jesus treats her with kindness, openly dismantling the racism between Jews and Samaritans.
Literary scholarship as a whole fails to adequately comment on “The Barber,” although scholar Yuki Miyazawa explicates the significance of the characters’ positions in developing the conflict. Miyazawa explains that “the confrontation between Rayber and the barber is caused by the fact that they remain adjacent in one place,” the barbershop (326). Therefore, the conflict must take on a new shape when Rayber flees from the barbershop at the end of the story, a shape shrouded in speculation by the story’s abrupt conclusion. As a result, Rayber fleeing from the conflict evokes images of the Old Testament prophet Jonah fleeing from God. When Jonah flees to a boat sailing for Tarshish, located on the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea from the city of Nineveh, where God wants Jonah to go, God “hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart” (Jonah 1.4 NLT). Readers infer that despite Rayber’s efforts to escape the conflict in the barbershop by running away, Rayber will ultimately be forced to face the conflict, just as God shows Jonah that he must ultimately go to Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-3 NLT).
Works Cited
ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Translated by Crossway, ESV text ed., Wheaton, Crossway Bibles, 2011.
Gooch, Brad. Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor. New York, Little, Brown, 2009.
Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Translated by Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Tyndale House Publishers, 2015.
Miyazawa, Yuki. “‘Mystery of Our Position’: A Religious Implication in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Barber.’” Literary Imagination: The Review of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, vol. 18, no. 3, Nov. 2016, pp. 325-34. MLA International Bibliography, https://doi.org/10.1093/litimag/imw033.
O'Connor, Flannery. “The Barber.” The Complete Stories, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971, pp. 15-25.