A Good Man Is Hard And Find By Flannery O ' Connor The Family Goes On A Road Trip

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is a short story that depicts a family's vacation to Florida that turned into an abysmal tragedy when they met with the Misfit, a convict who escaped from prison. This story is meant to be interpreted as a parable, whereby O'Connor made skilful use of symbolism to bring about messages such as the class-consciousness and the lack of spiritual faith that exist amongst human.

The confrontation between the grandmother and The Misfit in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” revolves around Jesus. The grandmother brings up praying to Jesus in hope that she can induce The Misfit to spare her life by appealing to his religious sense. It turns out, however, that The Misfit has probably thought about Jesus more seriously than she has. The Misfit’s doubt in Jesus leads him to think that there is no real right or wrong, and no ultimate point to life.

Obviously, her earlier actions reveal that the grandmother does not sincerely practice virtues. Yet, only through her shortcomings does the grandmother receive the chance of redemption. To quote O’Connor herself, “the instruction of pride through the lessons of humility is…the means by which the soul is prepared for its necessary illumination by the Holy Spirit” (Walters 73). If the grandmother had not had faults she would never have smuggled the cat, encouraged the detour, or brought about the accident. She would have remained a halfway Christian her entire life because she never would have met the Misfit. When the Misfit begins to have her family led away for execution, the reader sees that the grandmother grows into a deeper character than her initial introduction. When she cries out to her son, and begs him not to go off to the woods, the grandmother begins her journey towards figuring out her relationship with God. The grandmother begs the Misfit to accept Jesus and pray, for he is ‘a good man,’ yet the grandmother is not ‘a good woman’ herself. Until the moment when she looks at the Misfit and sees him as her child, she has not accepted God’s grace and redemption. O’Connor held the belief that “it is the free act, the acceptance of grace particularly, that I always have my

In "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", Grandmother is a deep religious character that gives the story a depth of interest. The reader gets the religious aspect of Grandmother through her actions such as her continually use of the word "Jesus", the conversation with the Misfit, and in the name of her grandson, John Wesley. Although, Grandmother is devoted to her faith, she fears

in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" Flannery O' Connor uses symbolism to give more meaning to her short story. O'Connor writes a story of a Grandmother versus a Misfit, or good versus evil. This short story is about a family going to Florida, who takes a turn down a dirt road, which only causes them to get in an accident, and be found by the Misfit. This encounter prevented them from ever arriving Florida, because the Misfit ends their lives. Using symbolism, O'Connor creates a story with much meaning to the Grandmother, nature, sky, woods, their surroundings, roads, and cars to portray the constant battle between good and evil.

These are also proven through this story by the way she portrays her character's speech and actions in this story. She used these to guide people, for example the Grandmother and the misfit to provide them with guidelines for their lives that are indicative of Christians. Her family and the society she lived in, in the South weighed heavily into her faith and the way she delivered her message through her writing.t is says that every author is allowed and encouraged to express their views using their literary works as media. Flannery O'Connor took full advantage of this fact and incorporated her religious beliefs into the short stories "A Good Man is Hard to find" and "Good Country People." that she wrote shortly after.

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the old south is perfectly represented. The short story occurs in Georgia where a family is traveling to Florida. While on their way, the family has a car accident near an old plantation because of a distraction by their grandmother 's cat. Due to this, the family encounters a man who the grandmother recognizes from the newspapers as a man called "The Misfit." This man is famous for being on a killing spree. In spite of this knowledge, the family 's good-hearted grandmother still tries to assure The Misfit that he is good man. The Misfit challenges the faith of the old southern woman but she never gives an inch. After the partners of The Misfit kill the entire family except for the grandmother, The Misfit then shoots the grandmother in the chest three times. This action ends her life instantly. The old south mindset is presented in several different occasions throughout this story but especially on pages 362 through 368. These pages tell about the family 's encounter of The Misfit and the incidents that took place thee. This story illustrates the old south primarily in three different ways, which include religion, racism, and respect.

In Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil, John Desmond suggests that the story is an allusion to the teachings of Christianity (Desmond). The author asserts that people should strive to live without necessarily having to prioritize trivial social issues. According to the author, the Grandmother commits the mistake of overindulging in her apparent superiority as compared

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’ Connor, is about a family going on a trip from Georgia to Florida. The grandmother, who is old-fashion in her beliefs, tells her grandchildren stories on the road trip; one story leads them down a dirt road to find a house on an old plantation, which produces an unpleasant outcome. The author uses the grandmother’s voice and language to give an old southern appeal to the story, which causes the impression that those who live like her are considered more acceptable.

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the grandmother and the Misfit become the main focus even though the other characters are involved in the story. Throughout the entire story, The Misfit is portrayed as the symbol of evil because he was in jail; he escaped from jail, and he committed murders. The grandmother believes to be greater than the people that she are around because of the “good” that she portrays. The conventional meaning of good, or possessing or displaying moral virtue, is not the particular good that the grandmother is trying to portray throughout the story. The grandmother believes that good

When the grandmother and the Misfit are alone the grandmother’s selfishness becomes apparent to readers. Even though her family had just been murdered, largely because of the consequences of her selfish acts, she is focused on saving her own life. Furthermore, she tries to convince the Misfit that he is a good man. "I just know you 're a good man." (O’Connor “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” 148) The Misfit replies with, "Nome, I ain 't a good man…but I ain 't the worst in the world neither.” (O’Connor “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” 148) He accepts the fact that he has done wrong but knows there are others who are worst. The grandmother speaks of prayer to the Misfit but is unable to recite one single prayer. She just repeatedly uses Jesus name, almost as if she is cursing. This symbolizes her weak understanding of being a Christian.

In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the title “good” is brought into question as a story that presents the moral complications of an old woman and a convict unfolds in a rather elaborate net of events. The old woman, a grandmother, who believes she’s superior to others by being a “lady” manages to press judgment on a man, the convict, who lacks the lenience in moral belief to accept criticism due to his own powerful convections and self-awareness. He’s a man with a different set of morals that seem to be carefully considered through experience and reflection, the question then becomes who considers themselves to be “good” and how does the meaning of “good” change as the main characters of this complicated tale interact? In the beginning of the story the grandmother is worried about taking a trip to Florida, because the Misfit, an escaped convict is headed there.

In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor showed us that this short story was set as a religious framework. The conversation the Misfit and the grandmother had was continually about Jesus. The Misfit was a dangerous man because of how he challenged the Christians’ faith in Jesus since he had the capability to raise the people from the dead. Even though the Misfit rejected Jesus from his life he knew many things from him. Which indicated he was also a religious believer at some point in his life. When the grandmother met Misfit I captured that she was a religious believer, Misfit knew a few things from Jesus, and how they disputed with one another on how Jesus can be the only way to help the Misfit.

In Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard To Find, one is struck by the unexpected violence at the end of the story. However, if you re-read the story a second time, you will see definite signs that foreshadow the grotesque ending. The story begins with the typical nuclear family being challenged by the grandmother who doesn't want to take the vacation to Florida. She has read about a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit who is on the run heading for Florida. Unfortunately, she is ignored by every member of the family except for the little girl, June Star, who can read the grandmother like an open book. The fact that she admonishes Bailey, her son, of this Misfit

Religion is a crucial point of the story. Coming to the end of the story, The Misfit and the grandmother are alone together talking. The Misfit's responses to the grandmother's prayers advice reveal that these two individuals are on two very different levels with concern to religion. The Misfit has a much deeper understanding of religion and his belief system than does the grandmother. As the two continue in conversion, the Misfit asks the grandmother if it seems right that Jesus was