A Good Man Is Hard To Find: A Comparative Analysis

In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," Flannery O'Connor represents her style of writing very accurately. She includes her "themes and methods - comedy, violence, theological concern - and thus makes them quickly and unmistakably available" (Asals 177). In the beginning of the story O'Connor represents the theme of comedy by describing the typical grandmother. Then O'Connor moves on to include the violent aspect by bringing the Misfit into the story. At the end of the story the theme changes to theological concern as the attention is directed towards the grandmother's witnessing. As the themes change throughout the story, the reader's perception of the grandmother also changes.

Working Thesis: In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, O’Connor uses the corrupt, manipulative character of the grandmother, as well as the story’s plot and theme in order to emphasize the flaws of the church and the need for grace.

A seemingly innocent family vacation can turn into a disaster if the members of the family only care about themselves. In the story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor, a self-absorbed Grandmother, too consumed with her own opinions, fails to address the views, feelings and overall well being of others. Her family is not much different in their self-interested ways. This leads them straight to the Misfit whose childhood trauma has caused him to grow up into a damaged individual. The Misfit does not believe in the Grandmother’s religious beliefs and she ultimately cannot reach out and help him. The characters get themselves into a predicament for living in the Id

The story I picked is from O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find. I chose this story because of previous stories that O’Connor wrote were fascinating such as “Good Country People.” The titles she uses for her short stories just interest you to read them and figure out what is the meaning behind the title. When I first saw the title I assumed it to be a love story of a young woman looking for a good man to marry after many failed attempts to find him. After you read the story, you will be able to tell I was way off. The thesis to “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is based on selfish characters who believe their way of living or thought is right and could not be questioned but learned the hard way but while ending in violence.

“Writing Short Stories,” an essay summarizing O’Connor’s concepts of the elements of good fiction, was a lecture she gave to a group of creative writing students in 1961. She stated that “In good fiction, certain of the details will tend to accumulate meaning from the action of the story itself, and when this happens they become symbolic in the way they work” ("Writing" 807). The use of symbolism in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” created a story which seemed to follow a classic model for tragedy. O’Connor explained “I do think, though, that like the Greeks you should know what is going to happen in the story so that any element of suspense in it will be transferred from its surface to the interior” ("Suspense" 802). She created a “cathartic experience” for the purpose of eliciting “a degree of pity and terror” from the audience, “even though its way of being serious is a comic one” ("Suspense" 802).

One person caused destruction on a family. O’ Conner “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” portrays how one’s desires, manipulation creates lack of communication destroying a family’s bond. The grandmother wants represents desires. A desire is strongly wish for or want .The

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

A good man really is hard to find. But what is the real definition of a real man? Maybe it is not just the prince charming you see in fairy tales or the perfect guy walking down Sixth Ave. that you pass by everyday to work. Maybe a good guy is simply someone that is good what they do. In this case the relationship between the grandmother and the misfit is just that. The only thing is if the reader sees it as clearly as the author would like them too or simply as she does.

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor uses the two main characters, the misfit to and the grandmother, to emphasize and personify the good and evil perceived within each character. Each one of the main characters displays both characteristics of good and evil, and while they might initially be viewed as one or the other, neither character can be seen so black and white. O’Connor uses these two characters to show how two characters can demonstrate such contrast and difference of good and evil traits, while also, having some of thosesame traits in common with each other. The first part of, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is devoted mainly to the characterizationof the grandmother and is originally portrayed as a believable old lady,

In Flannery O'Connor's eccentric short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the reader is introduced to her fundamental theme of Identity through a typical southern family. O’Connor’s exceptional use of fictional elements such as characterization, point of view, and setting further develop this theme in her work. She does so by familiarizing the use of violence, humor, and salvation along with point of view and setting to create a deeper connection between her work and the reader.

Many people have a different definition of a “good” man. Flannery O’ Connor short-story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” gives readers a brief view on the subject. In the story the foundation for what makes a good man seems to only come from the grandmother. However when she is faces with a disadvantage by Misfit, he puts a twist on her views, and shatters that foundation. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is neither a happy nor sad story, both characters have many flaws and seem undeserving, but through an unexpected encounter they both found grace and redemption.

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor brings a family road trip to life writing a tale of misfortune and adventure throughout travel. I can relate to her story based on the road trips taken over the years with my family. While not one trip stands out in my mind, collectively fragments of adventures across the states come to me. Growing up we would travel at least once a year if not more, solely relying on the pavement as transportation we would take SUV’s to the islands south or take a bus to New York. With my three sisters, various animals, as well occasional grandparents accompanying these journeys, morale tended to grow hectic. My parents although very kind, were incredibly strict through the entirety of my adolescence, when my sisters and I would argue they would shut it down almost immediately. Now when arguments are shut down without resolve they typically fester, and so emotions would explode between the children. The back and forth bickering in “a good man is hard to find” reminds me of petty arguments on late nights or days with little sleep and even more driving.

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.

The importance of psychology is to understand the human mind and how different people make mental decisions. Many people share common ideas and mental processes that cause them to make the decisions that they make. Therefore, when there is anomaly that reaches conclusions in different ways, it may be viewed as strange and be unaccepted. However, it is important to use psychology to understand how and why these different people make the decisions that they make, as it clarifies their odd behaviors and allows people to see their point of view. The short stories “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “A Rose For Emily”, and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are all similar due to the initially surprising actions of the main characters. However, when a psychological

Fiction Assignment The short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" written by Flannery O'Connor has some very shocking murders. A whole family was murdered, which included two small children and one baby. The killings in the story are surprising not by the fact that they encounter The Misfit who decides to kill them, but by the fact that the grandmother only begs for her life and not the life of her three grandchildren or her son and his wife. 1 "You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?" (421). The grandmother questions the intention The Misfit might have by questioning if he plans on killing her, but she never mentions her family, who are also at the mercy of this stranger. The grandmother is only trying to negotiate for her own life without including the rest of her family. It is shocking because it makes the grandmother seem like a selfish and coldhearted individual that she would save her own life and live with the fact that she did not try to talk The Misfit out of killing the rest of her family.