Comparing Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

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

While it may seem peculiar that O 'Connor would make the theme an ambiguous one it clearly is essential to the story. The ambiguous theme makes the story more intriguing. Had O 'Connor written the story with a clear set of characteristics for a good man and stated them in the text, the story would lose much of its meaning. The intent of the story is to inspire the reader to reflect on the meaning of a good man. The title, ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find ' alludes to this point. After reading the text, it can be assumed that a good man is difficult to find because no one is universally considered to be good. Each person has peers that have differing opinions of him. By the theme being an ambiguous one, O 'Connor initiates her readers to contemplate the diversity of ideas and values that individuals may have on the same subject. This makes the story more intriguing and valuable. Instead of ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find ' simply being a story about a family crossing paths with a murderer, it also inspires various opinions about the theme itself. This makes the story one that will pass the test of time and be relevant for all eras.

Grace, an important theme to O'Connor, is specified to both The Grandmother and The Misfit, suggesting that even people like the grandmother and The Misfit have the likelihood to be saved by God. The grandmother, motivated by the Misfit’s wish to know for sure what Jesus did and did not do, experiences a instant of grace when her head momentarily clears and she calls out, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (1,053). The Misfit is not factually the grandmother’s child; but this quote expresses her bewilderment she is experiencing. She sees her son Bailey as The Misfit because he is wearing Bailey’s shirt. Her comment about The Misfit seems unsuitable, but this is truly the grandmother’s most well-spoken moment in the story. She has clearness and, more importantly, sympathy. God has granted her grace just before she dies. The Misfit, too, is open to grace at this moment. He demanded earlier, “It’s no real

In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” the Grandmother is the protagonist. She is the focus of the narrative and the character whose reactions we encounter the most. More importantly, the third person narrative focuses strongly on the grandmother’s point of view, which establishes her in the reader’s mind much more than any other character. Nevertheless, the grandmother views herself as a rather dignified and traditional woman who appears to judge everyone, but manages to constantly overlook her own flaws. This appears various times such as when she conveys her ideas about the upcoming vacation and June Star states “She has to go everywhere we go” (O’Connor 567), in which merely displays the Grandmother as unwanted by the family. This can be compared to that of the Misfit in the story who also appears to be unwanted by his family. Despite this, the Grandmother continuously positions herself in the family’s everyday activities while imposing her judgment every chance she gets. Moreover, she is censorious of her son and daughter in law for not allowing their children to “see different parts of the world and be broad” (O’Connor 567). She is also critical of her grandchildren for not being like children “In my time” (O’Connor 569) who “were more respectful” (O’Connor 569). By doing this, O’Connor presents a strong characterization of the woman and her virtually unbreakable mindset. However, this story reflects on how through any conflict you can find the good in others, but sometimes it is too late for them to realize their own mistakes. Eventually, the Grandmother confronts evil in the form of The Misfit and seems to show a completely different side of

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.

Flannery O’Connor shows her readers a realistic look at their own mortality in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The story is about a family of five, a father, mother, grandmother, and two children, starting out on a vacation to Florida from Georgia. The family, on their way to a routine vacation, takes a detour that will change their lives forever. Through the use of literary elements like symbolism and characterization, O’Connor creates a theme of good vs. evil, which can be felt throughout the story by tapping into the audience’s emotions.

The term “a good man” is usually referred to it as a worthy person that has done a marvelous deed. A person look can be deceiving and it is very difficult to know whether that person is generous or malicious. In a short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the audiences are focus primary on the grandmother interactions toward The Misfit, a wanted criminal. The story is set to be in one big irony about a family vacation from wrong. There is a numerous irony throughout the story, but the most irony scene is the interaction between the grandmother, who's the protagonist of the story, and The Misfit, who’s a wanted criminal and the antagonist. Throughout the conversation between the family and The Misfit, the audiences will

In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the grandmother and the Misfit both experience a life-changing event that leads to them having a clear understanding of who they should truly be. After the Misfit kills the rest of the family, the grandmother is left alone with the Misfit in the ditch. Once she

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.

He acts like a mirror. He lets whatever the Grandmother says bounce right off him. He never really agrees with her or disagrees, and in the end he is the one who kills her. His second to last line, “She would of been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life,”(O'Conner 425). might be the way O'Conner felt about most of us alive, or how she felt that God must feel about us. The third, and final stage of the Grandmother is the moment of recovery. She finally sees The Misfit for who he really is, a person just like her. He is not someone who was made by his social class. He is a simple human being just like her. At this point she sees herself in relation to everyone else. She finally realizes that her class does not make her. Society makes the class, and she just fits into it. She shows this by claiming that The Misfit could be one of her own beloved children.

Southern gothic is a type of literature that focuses on the harsh conflicts of violence and racism, which is observed in the perspective of black and white individuals. Some of the most familiar southern authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. One author in particular, Flannery O’Connor, is a remarkable author, who directly reflects upon southern grotesque within her two short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation.” These two short stories are very similar to each other, which is why I believe that O’Connor often writes with violent characters to expose real violence in the world while tying them in with a particular spiritual insight.

In the short story, “A good man is hard to find” a representation of the world’s petty sins is demonstrated within the small family unit. Each member in the family represented a major flaw in humanity across the globe. Before the end of the story all characters involved had an opportunity to right their wrong before they died. Some people struggle with their sin and feel remorseful after they have committed them. Most of the story the family does not seem to be concerned at all with the wrong doing. Whether the characters realized they were wrong or not does not change their fate a death still had to occur, because the Bible says the wages of sin is death.

The story in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother did not want to travel to Florida on their vaction. Instead, convinced her son Bailey, to let the children see Tennessee, and avoiding the chances of having the family meet with the misfits that are loose in Florida. Unfortunately, Bailey accidently drove into a ditch, and the grandmother climbed back up the road to signal for help, but backfired. Their help were the misfits, who ended the lives of everyone without mercy, nor hesitation. The grandmother desperately trying to stay alive, have lost her family, and her life. The misfit have been known to have no mercy for killing the family, but the grandmother smiles after her death as if the misfits saved her from herself.

I found “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor to be a very disturbing short story because of the shocking and gruesome ending. I actually had to read this story twice to get the full effect and after reading it the second time I realized that nobody’s really a hero in this story. There’s no one to root for; everybody’s bad. I felt a little bit for the grandmother at first because the story is mostly told through her eyes, but I ended up actually not liking her much either because she is very talkative, judgmental, self centered and she’s also pretty bossy.

A Good Man Is hard To Find has different types of themes, but the most significant part centralized on religion has the main idea. The grandmother and misfit have significant knowledge about Christianity. The story expresses that individuals cannot be based on the appearance and according to the bible good looking doesn’t make you make a good individual. The man at the restaurant was described as a gentle and soft by the grandmother, but he really punched is wife a day before. The religion aspect of the story focuses on the grandmother as an old fashioned Christian who has faith in God but was tested at the end of her life. Flannery o’ Connery present misfits as someone who has probably thought about Jesus more seriously than she has. Misfit