Katherine Anne Porter, A Rebellious Devotee Of Catholicism

Katherine Anne Porter is a distinguished author of stylized short stories and novels. While most efforts of literary inquiry are devoted to such topics as Porter's thematic concerns or stylistic techniques, this paper attempts to present a general picture of Porter's religious life as a Catholic.Firstly, it tries to trace Katherine Anne Porter's religious background for a justification for her complicated attitude towards religion. Porter was deeply influenced in her childhood by her grandmother and father; she was introduced into Catholicism by her first husband's family and remained all her life a professed Catholic.It goes on to present Porter as her speaking critically and satirically of religion and even regarding Catholicism as an enemy. The rebelliousness inherited from her father dictated that Porter rise against it as a betrayer. The next part is devoted to the presentation of Porter as a loyal follower of religion, which reveals Porter's devotion to Catholicism. The influence of her grandmother asserted its presence in the development of her personal history and writing career.There may be many causes of Porter's ambivalence, but her pessimistic outlook is a prominent factor. The sufferings in her secular life and her inborn sensitivity to moral and spiritual threats of the world shaped her pessimism. Porter converted herself to religion hoping for consolation but evidence of religious corruption only strengthened her pessimism. Porter then tried all her life by other means to fight off the pessimism but in vain until eventually she had lost hope of temporal salvation and turned to religion again for final peace. Katherine Anne Porter held an ambivalent attitude towards her religious faith; she is a rebellious devotee of Catholicism.