Manifestation in "Flowering Judas" by Hannah Owings

Theme #1: Guilt

hannahowings — 2025-09-09 22:07:35 UTC

"She saw that his hand was fleshless, a cluster of small white petrified branches, and his eye sockets were without light, but she ate the flowers greedily for they satisfied both hunger and thirst. 'Murderer! said Eugenio, and Cannibal! This is my body and my blood.'" (Porter 6)

hannahowings — 2025-09-09 22:08:36 UTC

Theme #2: Corruption

hannahowings — 2025-09-10 02:45:47 UTC

"Braggioni is cruel to everyone, with a kind of specialized insolence, but he is so vain of his talents, and so sensitive to slights, it would require a cruelty and vanity greater than his own to lay a finger on the vast cureless wound of his self-esteem. It would require courage, too, for it is dangerous to offend him, and nobody has this courage." (Porter 1)

"'It may be true I am as corrupt, in another way, as Braggioni,' she thinks..." (Porter 2)

Misogyny

hannahowings — 2025-09-10 03:00:04 UTC

"...and Braggioni, who considers himself a judge of women...." (Porter 4)

"One woman is really as good as another for me, in the dark. I prefer them all." (Porter 4)

Discussion question: What do you think the Judas tree symbolizes to Laura, if anything?

hannahowings — 2025-09-10 03:11:08 UTC