Character Analysis: A Good Man Is Hard To Find

This story was taken place also when black Americans were set free from slavery and had just as much equal rights as any other white American did. They were preferred to not be called "niggers" but be called black Americans. During this time no matter what was said, she would not let go of the term "nigger" referring to black Americans because she thought that they did not deserve as many equal rights because she thought that they could do no better if they were turned from under the power of white Americans.

The Misfit is the obvious choice to track and analyze as the character with “evil intelligence” in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The Misfit can be described as nefarious because readers know that he is an escaped convict. The story never comes directly out and says that he has murdered someone, but it can be inferred that this is what The Misfit has done. The Misfit shows his level of intelligence through the conversation he has with the grandmother. While the grandmother is pleading with The Misfit, he seems to stop and actually consider what she says: ““I just know you’re a good man,” she said desperately. “You’re not a bit common!” “Nome, I ain’t a good man,” The Misfit said after a second as if he had considered her statement carefully, “but I ain’t the worst in the world neither”” (O'Connor 257). The Misfit, unlike nearly anyone else, considers the grandmother’s statement; average people would either immediately agree or disagree with her. The Misfit futher shows of his level of depth and intelligence when the grandmother and him are discussing the subject of

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the Misfit’s characteristics are often opposites of each other or contradictory to each other. For example, at times he is gentle, while at other times in the story, his words and actions are harsh. Some of the statements he makes and actions he takes show him to be intelligent, but others also show him to be clueless and out of touch with reality. Similarly, he treats the family in the story with respect, yet in no way values their lives.

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.

The Misfit thinks it meanness to believe in Christ because there was nothing for him. In Flannery O’Connor stories writes about religious matters to her characters. Like the Misfit he lacks believe of religious, but the other hand the grandmother tries to make him believe the sense of it. “Thus, Miss O'Connor's fiction is primarily concerned with man's life-and-death spiritual struggle” (Dowell 236). The Misfit tells his story why he became a killer to the grandmother. He struggled with his life where the point he just became a criminal. When he killed the grandmother he had self-insures. He felt sorry for the grandmother that she ended up that way at the end. “Because he cannot believe, the Misfit commits himself to evil” (236). She doesn’t believe that he can be an evil person because everyone is missing something. She talks to them until he understood what she is getting at. She tells him he is like one her children:

You are sitting in your living room at home watching the nightly news. The lead story for the night is about a family of four that were murdered. After seeing and hearing about something like that we often ask ourselves, What could possess a person enough to kill another human being? What is it that drives a person to kill? Will we ever know? Many authors use this unique mentality in short stories. They write about what the killer thinks and how he/she acts on his/her thoughts. One of these stories is “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, by Flannery O’Connor. In this story O’Connor’s victim, The Misfit, is an escaped convict. He was in the Federal Penitentiary for killing his father. Throughout the story O’Connor builds up this killers mentality

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.

Exploring the idea that all men are born sinners, O’Connor demonstrates immoral indulgences entertained by various characters. Readers are introduced to grandmother, an elderly woman whose consistent unscrupulous behavior exhibits her inner motives. Grandmother uses subtle, indirect confrontation to get her way until she is faced with The Misfit, a runaway criminal who believes that crime is a justifiable. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” Flannery O’Connor uses characterization to display a loss of morals, imagery to portray evil in society, and symbolism to emphasize the struggle of obtaining grace to prove how life is nihilistic without religion.

This paper will present a rhetorical context for the use of violence in the short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” as she presented in her essay “The Element of Suspense.” The form of classical tragedy in this story will also be analyzed from the critical theories of Aristotle and Longinus. Tolstoy will be used to examine the use Christian symbolism. Nietzsche will provide a more well-rounded universal conclusion to the uses of tragedy and spiritual elements in this classic story.

A good man is hard to find and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been are stories where good vs evil strikes the protagonists. A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O’Connor is about a manipulative lady who gets murdered by a devious misfit. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates is about connie, a young girl, who gets raped and killed by an older man, Arnold Friend. Some of the characters in A Good Man Is Hard To Find and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been are very similar in the roles they play such as the grandmother and Connie nd the misfit and Arnold Friend. Though the characters are alike, they also contrast in many ways when it comes to personality, morality, and attitude.

"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.

Conversation then shifts to the escaped convict known as the “misfit”. Further conversation details how the misfit would frequent their establishment. While Red tells his wife to be quiet about the matter grandmother comments about Europe’s contribution to problems referring to the way they (Europeans) act. Eventually the family finishes their lunch and continues on the way toward an abrupt end. Red appears to be interested in simple mingling with their guest perhaps because of the family’s choice to dine in their establishment. Their presence while welcomed simply is a transaction, nothing more or less.

This could have been the case between he misfit and the grandmother both. But it’s never really clearly said. The misfit could have been known as the evil villain of the story. The grandmother was slowly beginning to turn into one but never made it all the way. “So take a chance, and take a look at Flannery O’Connor. Prepare to laugh, to be shocked, and to think. But most of all, be prepared to see.” –Welborn.

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.

With his violent killing, the Misfit seems an unlikely source to look to for guidance, but he demonstrates a deep conviction that the other characters lack. Unlike the grandmother, who simply assumes that she is morally superior to everyone else, the Misfit seriously questions the meaning of life and his role in it. He has carefully considered his actions in life and examined his experiences to find lessons within them. He has even renamed himself because of one of these lessons, believing that his punishment didn’t fit the crime. He reveals a self-awareness that the grandmother lacked and questions it. He knows he is not a great man, but he also knows that there are others worse than him. He forms rudimentary philosophies, such as “no pleasure but meanness” and “the crime don’t matter.” The Misfit’s philosophies may be morally corrupt, but they are consistent. Unlike the grandmother, whose moral code falls apart the moment it’s challenged, the Misfit has a steady view of life and acts according to what he believes is right. His beliefs and actions