Pride is something that Flannery O’Connor addresses in most of her stories and having too much pride usually results in her characters experiencing some kind of revelation. Within the very first moments of “The Artificial N***er,” O’Connor reveals both Mr. Head’s and Nelson’s prideful tendencies through even the most miniscule interactions. Each characters’ prideful tendencies have resulted in a significant divide within their relationship. Even something as simple as waking up earlier than the other to make breakfast has become a competition and drive for spite. The old man Mr. Head seems to have an abundance of pride in regard to the knowledge he has gathered throughout life. He continually boasts his knowledge and tries to outsmart his grandson Nelson. This only feeds into Nelson’s pride. Nelson’s annoyance for his grandfather stems from the pride he feels for being born in the city rather than out in the country. Both men’s sense of pride controls the way in which they treat each other as well as others. Mr. Head is too prideful to admit that he does not know all, while Nelson is too prideful to admit that he does rely on his grandfather, and both are too prideful to accept the fact that they are no better than anyone else.
The series of events that unfold as the plot progresses in “The Artificial N***er” reveal each characters’ denial of Christ because of pride. Because each of them is consumed by proving the other wrong, they only worsen their situation of being lost in the city. In Lucas Morel’s “Bound for Glory: The Gospel of Racial Reconciliation in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Artificial N***er,’” he argues that both Nelson and Mr. Head are blinded not only by their pride but also by their racial prejudices. As Mr. Head takes them deeper into the city trying to show the boy his “knowledge” he reveals his bigotry as well when refusing to ask black people for directions. What Morel argues is that because Mr. Head refuses to ask for help it is a denial of spiritual transformation, “O’Connor teaches the reader about opportunities for spiritual transformation that are missed by the main characters, Mr. Head and his grandson Nelson, because of their pride and self-justification, which manifest themselves most clearly in racial bigotry” (203). One then may argue that Nelson is not prideful because he does indeed ask a black woman for help, however after he speaks to her, he feels a strong sense of shame, thus revealing his bigotry. Morel argues that because both men ashamed of asking these strangers for help, they are in a way denying Christ. Each one of their encounters with a black stranger is a representation of the Kingdom of God and they are too blinded by pride to realize this.
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