A Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis

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 twist and turns of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” leave the reader perplexed and riveted, relaying that the utmost thought went into the outline of the story. The author leaves the readers waiting for good to prevail over evil but never lets them have their intended ending as most stories do which is what gives this story it 's intriguing draw. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor uses literary techniques such as conflicts, foreshadowing, imagery, simile, and irony to create eccentric characters and a twisted plot.

In the Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we find out that the title indicates of what the story is about. The title actually came from the lyrics of a song written by Eddie Green in 1918. The title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner is quite ironic really. The reader expects to eventually find a good man in the story, but is quite surprised at the ending of the story. The title "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is expressed clearly in this story by introducing a variety of male personalities that all have one thing in common; they are not truly good men.

In Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find", a southern family is taking a vacation to Florida, but the real journey takes place inside the family's lives. One question that comes up in the story is what the definition of a good man is and how there is so few of them left in the world. Many of the characters in the story think of themselves as good people based on moral codes that they stand by. These moral codes are deeply flawed however, leaving each character blinded by their own self-righteousness.

n the Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we find out that the title indicates of what the story is about. The title actually came from the lyrics of a song written by Eddie Green in 1918. The title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner is quite ironic really. The reader expects to eventually find a good man in the story, but is quite surprised at the ending of the story. The title "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is expressed clearly in this story by introducing a variety of male personalities that all have one thing in common, they are not truly good men.

The family originally intends to travel to Florida for their vacation, but Bailey reluctantly changes the location to Tennessee because the grandma feels that the children could use a change in scenery. Oddly enough, in the same conversation, the grandma reads a newspaper article that informs the family that a man who, “calls himself The Misfit is aloose…and headed towards Florida,” and she explicitly states that she would never “take [her] children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (1). The fact that the family is traveling to the same area as The Misfit hints at their encounter in the end of the story.

The story begins with a Grandmother trying to convince her son, Bailey and daughter in law to take a vacation in East Tennessee rather than Florida because of the escape of an escaped convict known as the Misfit and the children have already been there (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The Grandmother’s grandson states that she should just stay home, in which the granddaughter replied that she would not want to miss anything, as she had to always go where the family went. The Grandmother dressed as a lady, and was the first in the car, hiding her cat in a basket so her son did not see it. “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” written by (Mary) Flannery O’Connor is about a grandmother who reminisces with her grandchildren on the good versus evil in the world.

“She would have been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life,” (O’Conner pg. 418). In Flannery O’Conner’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” she explained the dynamics of how the grandmother is an unlikely recipient of grace, she related the actions of the Misfit with religion, and also, the intangible definitions of a good man. The short story is about a family going on a trip to Florida, but the grandmother did not want to go on this trip. She wanted to go to Tennessee, but since she lived with her son Bailey she went with them where they wanted to go. While on the drive the grandmother remembers about a plantation she went to when she was a young lady. Bailey decides

It was first published in 1953 in the anthology The Avon Book of Modern Writing. In 1960, it was collected in the anthology The House of Fiction, published by Charles Scribner's Sons. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," One of O’Connors most famous short stories is titled after a song recorded in 1927-28 by Bessie Smith a blues singer, that informed women that had a faithful man at home to follow her advice and give him a lot of affection; because “A Good man was hard to find”. After finding out that her man was cheating on her (Kirk).

In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the definition of good can only be determined if we understand two things, the typical definition of good and what to make of the main character known as the Grandmother. The definition of good should first be noted as, “that which is morally right; righteousness.” This will be the analysis of the grandmother and the ultimate decision as to the definition of good throughout this story.

Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” gives readers a front row seat to the chilling tale of a southern family’s murder at the hands of an escaped convict who calls himself “The Misfit” and his associates. On their way to Florida for a vacation, the family stops to visit an abandoned house and ends up in a car accident, where they are found by The Misfit, and subsequently killed. While the murder is the climax of the story, O’Connor writes a cast of uniquely flawed characters that are the true focus of the narrative; each character adds a layer to the convoluted tale.

"Adversity defines the essence of who we are and who we desire to be!" This can be best realized in the rural southern regions of the United States during the late 19 forties and early fifties. Without a specific location of long-term concentration, this story finds three generations of a family taking a vacation (planning at least) to Florida despite objections from the grandmother. Factor in her impatient son (Bailey), his wife, and two smart-ass children have marginal respect for their grandmother resulting in a crew of authoritative, uncertainty, distant, and manipulative people about to engage on a trip that ends with certain doom for all with a twist indicative of self preservation and ironic irritation.

In O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the setting contributes to the reader's understanding of Bailey's out of tune family. We can assume the story took place in the post-war mid century era given the fact that O’Connor wrote this story in 1953 and when the grandmother says, “the way Europe acted you would think we were made of money” (O’Connor). During the 1940’s and 1950’s the backbone of the American dream was “hard work, family values, and hope” (Desmond). Families from back then were big on respect and took family time seriously. When comparing a traditional mid century family to Bailey's family there is a distinct difference that allows us to label them as a dysfunctional family. Although we do not get a look into the family's work ethic, we do get a close enough look to see their lack of family values. Throughout the story there are several times where the family reveals that they are clearly flawed with the words they choose to say or simply with their actions.

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find’ tells of a seemingly normal family with a bit of dysfunction. Throughout this tale, the author fabricates a number of characters, some inconsiderable, others full of depth and history that present themselves wildly open to interpretation. Looking into O’Connor’s past, it is clear to see her relationship with a number of these fictional minds and pull from these the meaning behind her hidden pain and anguish. We are therefore presented with a mother and sons family who are prisoners in a manipulative, destructive relationship.

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the author, Flannery O’Connor communicates literary symbols and prominence of Southern culture. Within the story, there are subtle yet important details that make the entirety of the piece as iconic as it is. The reoccurring theme of being a lady and moral codes both are important to the overall concept of the story.