Analysis Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

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

In the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, written by Flannery O’Connor, the theme that the definition of a ‘good man’ is mysterious and flawed is apparent. The reader must realize that it is difficult to universalize the definition of a good man because every person goes through different experiences. Thus, these experiences affect his or her viewpoint and in turn flaw ones view on a good man. O’Connor conveys this theme through her excellent use of diction, imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism as well as through a creative use of repetition and an omniscient point of view.

In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the Grandmother is a main character that symbolizes a savior. O' Connor

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.

Thesis Statement: In Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother's journey from being controlling and selfish to graceful symbolizes a Christian's journey toward salvation.

Numerous authors and their stories are distinctive, but few authors compare to Flannery O'Connor. What sets O'Connor apart from other authors is her use of religion and violence. A majority, possibly all, of O'Connor’s stories contain some element of religion and/or violence. Not only is O'Connor’s stories unusual, but her characters are also unlike other author’s characters. Flannery O'Connor's unique stories contain characters that have an "evil intelligence determined on its own supremacy" that are often central to the conflict of the story.

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', the main character is the grandmother. Flannery O'Connor, the author, lets the reader find out who the grandmother is by her conversations and reactions to the other characters in the story. The grandmother is the most important character in the story because she has a main role in the stories principal action. This little old lady is the protagonist in this piece. We learn more about her from her direct conversation with the son, Bailey, her grandchildren, June Star and John Wesley, and the Misfit killer. Through these conversations, we know that she is a lady raised from a traditional background. In the story, her attitude changes

“A Good Man is hard to find,” a short story written by Flannery O’ Connor, is one of the most interesting stories I’ve ever come across to in my life. Born as an only child into a Catholic family, O’ Conner is one of the most “greatest fiction writers and one of the strongest apologists for Roman Catholicism in the twentieth century (New Georgia Encyclopedia).” She was a very strong believer in her faith and she used her stories as a tool to send the reader a message that were most likely ignored and almost never uttered out loud. The story revolves around a grandmother who believes to be high and mighty around others. This results in her downfall later on.

The concept of being a “good” person has painted the picture of how people have handled their lives throughout history. On the same note, this concept has also been the subject of much debate; such is the case in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The protagonist, the unnamed grandmother struggles to find the “good” in others and herself. O’Conner uses foreshadowing, characterization, and a distinct point of view to make her point. In my interpretation, her point is that only through conflict and turmoil can good truly be found.

O’Connor first expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary element of point of view. Point of view is an important literary element in O’Connor’s short story, because it expresses her views on the grandmother and her “role as grace-bringer” (Bethea 2006). Point of view is expressed in her story by the main character the grandmother, a woman who lives with her son and tries to convince her family to go to Tennessee to avoid the Misfit. Point of view is especially important in this story because it lets the reader know what the grandmother is thinking and her actions that involve the main conflict of the short story. For instance, in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the

“Her stories bring to life a land overflowing with churches and self-proclaimed Christians, where religion is present everywhere, but rarely practiced in its true form” (Harris Para.1). O’Connor includes religious beliefs in her stories, however it may seem as it is rarely performed until in need of help or trouble. This is very well presented in one of her stories “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” where the grandmother only talks about religious faith when she is about to be killed. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a story based on the presence of god when the family is about to be killed by the Misfit. O’Connor tends to give the people who are least deserving the belief of faith and god. The grandmother tends to judge people, however she is the one who turns to god when she and her family are about to die. The grandmother realizes that she is the reason her family is going to be killed, because the house is not in Georgia but in Tennessee instead. The end of the story is where the religion aspect starts to play a role, when the grandmother asks the Misfit “Do you ever pray?” (O’Connor 718). Though grandmother is proclaimed as a bad person who is always judging people “people are certainly not nice like they used to be.” (O’Connor 714), she still believes in God, and believes that he will get them out of any trouble. Though the Misfit used to be a gospel singer for a while, something changed him. He now kills people instead of paying his respect in the religious

The grandmother believes in the Savior, Jesus Christ but the Misfit questions His existence. By seeing the Misfit as one of her children, she gains God's redemption and follow His command to love the enemies. She realizes that she is responsible for the Misfit and for the first time, she acts out of kindness and sympathy. She is able to forgive and love the Misfit who kills them in the end. Because of her redemption, she dies "smiling up at the cloudless sky"(125).

This is basically saying that she was only using God when she needed him, which by a Catholic’s point of view would be disrespectful towards God. The grandma also displays many selfish acts during the story, when the Misfit and his accomplices are about to kill her family, she never ask them to spare the children. She constantly begs him not to shoot ‘a lady’. All of these are examples of how she is non – Christ like.

Religion has been a repeatedly used theme in many of her writings. In her writings, the characters have beliefs and expectations that are set up, whether that be by the characters age or time period of the story. O’Connor uses the genre of Southern Gothic to help explain the customs of the South’s past. Southern Gothic has a lot of bizarre and eerie plots. It also usually has an unexpected twist or turn toward the end of the story. O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” was published in 1953. Grandmother is basing her idea of a “good man” on the idea of what she had been taught and grown up with as a child. A “good man” in the grandmother’s opinion, needed to be comparable to her own beliefs or thoughts. This work is often criticized for the final scene, the killing of the family and the grandmother. The story is a collection of short stories under the same