"Greenleaf" is a short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor

Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...

. It was written in 1956 and published in 1965 in her short story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge

Everything That Rises Must Converge

Everything That Rises Must Converge is a collection of short stories written by Flannery O'Connor during her final illness. The title of the collection and of the short story of the same name is taken from a passage from the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The collection was published...

. O'Connor finished the collection during her final battle with lupus

Systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus , often abbreviated to SLE or lupus, is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the body. As occurs in other autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage...

. She died in 1964, just before her final book was published. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.

Plot summary

Mrs. May owns a farm on which she hires Mr. Greenleaf to work because her sons are not interested in farm work, and to her dismay both live at home and are unmarried. One is a businessman while the other, a scholar and teacher at a university. Both Mrs. Mary and Mr. Greenleaf's wife, Mrs. Greenleaf consider themselves Christians. Mrs. May however has a somewhat smug morality based upon outward success, while Mrs. Greenleaf secretly practices faith healing and recognizes herself as a sinner. When no one is nearby she prays that Jesus "stab her in the heart," which is implied that he must change her sinful heart. The Greenleaf's two successful sons own a farm, and their bull escapes onto Mrs. May's property. She orders Mr. Greenleaf to shoot his son's escaped bull, and she and Greenleaf drive off looking for it. Under the pretense of killing the bull, Mr. Greenleaf actually chases it into the woods where it can escape. Seeing this, Mrs. May honks the car horn and the bull comes out of the woods goring her in the heart just as Mr. Greenleaf reappears. At this point, it is clear that the bull symbolizes Christ.