A Good Man Is Hard To Find Foreshadowing Analysis

As I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and thusly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with every sentence and by doing so, the characters within the story are infinitely real in my mind’s eye. As I consider these factors, the story focuses on two main characters; that of the grandmother, who comes across as self-centered and self-serving and

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor challenges readers to look at life through a different lense and causes her audience to make connections to the modern world from the text. Throughout the entire story, O’Connor addresses issues that are still relevant to this day by thoroughly developing each character and using each character to bring up issues that are intriguing to the audience. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a story that challenges readers to make connections and think about the world through a different lense. These thought provoking qualities are the reasons why A Good Man is Hard to Find is a must read for readers of all ages.

The foreshadowing in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” can be seen almost immediately. Within the first paragraph, the protagonist known as “the

Stupidity should be painful. When paired with a lack of common sense strife usually occurs. In severe cases natural selection transpires. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” natural selection literally expunges a single blood line due to the selfish actions of the grandmother. In her story, O’ Connor utilizes foreshadowing in order to effectively orchestrate the family’s untimely death.

In 1953, Flannery O'Connor published her famous short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” In this story, a family of four members is the Grandmother, Bailey, the children's mother, John Wesley, June Star and the baby. The family is on their way for the vacation after the Grandmother complaints about going to Tennessee instead of Florida; the Grandmother mistakenly brings the family to a dirt road by lying about a secret panel house (the house is actually in Tennessee, not Georgia). A car accident happens, unfortunately, they get help from the Misfit and are shot by the Misfit.

In my opinion the parts that helped boost the dramatic interest in the story, A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor, were the foreshadowing parts of the story. For example, when the family stopped at Sammy's Famous Barbeque, the grandmother started talking to the owner of the restaurant about two fellas who had done him wrong, and from there they started talking about the Misfit, "Did you read about that criminal, The Misfit, that's escaped?" (311), the grandma asked the owner. By talking about the Misfit throughout the story, I feel like it was adding to interest of the readers to know when he was going to appear. A symbol that I noticed in the story was the grandmother's hat, which to me represented her traditions as southern woman. I liked the way O'Connor used imagery to contrast the way the mother of the children looked like and how the grandma looked like by saying, "The children's mother still had on slacks and still had her hair tied up in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy-blue dress with a small with a small white dot on the print." (309).  The climax started when the grandmother realized that the house she was looking for was in Tennessee, I feel like from that moment there was no coming back.

The grandmother hid her cat in a basket, which she puts in the car with her on the day of the trip. The grandmother wears a floral hat and dress, because if she were to get into a car accident people would know she is “a lady”. The two kids June Star and John Wesley clearly dislike their grandmother, it is very clear because they often make remarks to suggest this. The family makes their way through Georgia and they Grandma reminisces about an old suitor she had back in the day when the family passes

“A Good man is hard to find,” is about a family who decide to go on a trip to

An interesting story is “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor which combines a sarcastic humor with a fictional event that could teach us how a little unexpected moment would destroy their precious treasure of life, the family. Through the story the author applies foreshadowing, strong characters, and particular settings to keep the attention of the reader.

As foreshadowing becomes evident frequently through the story, the author uses imagery to help foreshadow the events occurring and the characters in the conflict. One of the major foreshadowing imageries was the grandmother’s elaborate dress. O’Connor stated, “. . . a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the

The use of foreshadowing is one of the most-used literary devices in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and instances of foreshadowing range from very direct (constant mentioning of the Misfit and how dangerous he is even though no one has any idea where he is) and smaller uses. Everything in this story works together to create a mood and part of this mood, this tone in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is very much based on foreshadowing, especially after the family crashes. Notice that the car approaches slowly to “help” them and that it looks like a hearse. Notice as well that just about everything that happens once the family leaves is clouded with a certain darkness; the trip to Red Sammy’s, which is touted as being like a tourist attraction, is

She completely overdresses for the trip in a “navy straw hat and collars and cuffs, so that in case there was an accident, people would know she was a lady.” (277) She also looks down upon other people. The grandmother is quite judgmental of others but she never realizes her own dishonesty or selfishness. When talking to John Wesley she makes derogatory about black kids such as they don’t have things like you do and “if she could paint, she would paint that picture.”(278)

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a grandmother who wants to go to Tennessee instead of Florida for vacation because she read in a article about a criminal called the misfit was heading towards Florida. The first trait of this story is being an outsider, what makes the misfit an outsider is he’s a criminal and because of who he is he doesn’t fit in with the Christians and he isn’t accepted by anyone. Another trait is good versus evil, and this trait fits because of how the grandmother is a Christian woman and how she carries herself throughout the story makes her

The irony of the story is that it is under the directions of the Grandmother that leads the family into a run in with The Misfit, which is what she told her son she would never do. Throughout the trip we are given examples of the racism that was present during this period. The Grandmother makes multiple racist innuendos such as her observation of the “cute little pickaninny,” and her statement that “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do” (O’Conner 2). During the ride, The Grandmother convinces Bailey to take a detour down an old, dirt road which supposedly leads to an old southern plantation home she once visited. The road leads them deep into the woods where an accident is caused by The Grandmothers cat, which leaves the car upturned and the family stranded. It is then the family encounters The Misfit, whom discovers them stranded as he was passing by. He approaches the family with two young men and shortly after The Grandmother lets out a scream as she realizes him. During their encounter, the readers are given a small glimpse into the deranged mind of The Misfit. It is apparent that he has an upturned moral compass. He gains pleasure from committing crimes and the meanness that goes along with it. During his conversation with the Grandmother, he slowly has his men take members of the family out

A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a short story from Flannery O'Connor's book compilation of various short stories. It was originally published in the late 1950’s and is known for its controversial ending. O’Connor’s famous