Research Paper: a Good Man Is Hard to Find

In the short story, “The Good Man Is Hard to Find” the grandmother describes a “good man” vaguely. The grandmother pertains the label “good” broadly, putting a shadow over the definition

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

The grandmother, the main character of the story, is manipulative. Her definition of a ‘good man’ refers to the characteristics that a ‘good man’ should possess.

Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find tells the story of a family from Atlanta, Georgia as it makes it way to Florida for a vacation. The five members of the family include the grandmother, her son Bailey and his wife. Among the passengers are three children, one of whom is still a baby. There fatal deaths in the end illustrate the belief that everybody has their own unique flaws. The grandmother plays a pivotal role in the story considering the fact that she selfishly convinces the family to divert momentarily from the expected route. In From ‘One of My Babies’: The Misfit and the Grandmother, Stephens Bandy points out that the grandmother was extremely evil. John Desmond, on the other hand suggests that the grandmother is not necessarily a strictly evil person. With reference to the short story, this paper explores Bandy’s and Desmond’s critique’s of A Good Man is Hard to Find. The paper argues that the grandmother is absolutely to do anything for her selfish gains. Furthermore, the paper argues that people are not entirely good or evil, but respond to different events in unique ways.

     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

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor is a short story about a family who is taking a trip to Florida and is killed by the Misfit and his crew after an accident. As the short story begins, the grandmother is seen by the reader as the hero/protagonist but as the story progresses, the grandmother shows he true colors and is seen as the monster/antagonist. The grandmother is a manipulative, dishonest and selfish person who leads herself and her family to their death. This is a woman who is willing to use manipulation to get what she wants, shows her self-interest and her little concern for anyone else but herself throughout the short story. The grandmother is the cause of the accident that lead to

The line that summarizes the grandmother in the story “ A Good Man is Hard to Find” is “ she would have been a good woman if someone was there to shoot her all her life.”The grandmother is a typical human being. In many aspects she is selfish. She wants her way and is willing to do anything to get it. For example, once she knows that she is unable to convince her grandson to visit the house which she describes in the story, she shifts her attention to the grandchildren.

As Bandy mentions, the grandmother and the misfit are often intertwined in many critics’ reviews of A Good Man is Hard to Find (1). One of the most obvious ironies they share is that you perceive one as being the opposite of the other for the wrong reasons. With the grandmother, as stated before, one may assume her to be a good person, while she is in fact the opposite. While the Misfit would most likely be associated as a murderer and a horrible monster, he in fact is a decent human being. Wynne emphasizes the humor in the grandmother’s attempt to save herself by calling the Misfit one of her children (1). As if she is good and therefore he, being of the same good blood, must also be good. In these aspects I completely agree with these writer’s interpretations of the grandmother and the

The grandmother feels that God provides the answer to any underlying problems, and the Misfit knows and feels that all of the horrible things he has done are truly not considered morally wrong from his perspective. Towards the end, when the grandmother experienced an epiphany before the Misfit shot her in the chest she stated, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children” (11). This made the grandmother realize that she was expressing the true Christian belief that we are all seen as equal in the eyes of God, no matter how murderous someone may be. O’Connor’s use of spiritual insight stripped away the grandmothers self-centeredness, and helped her discover the ability to see others with compassion and understanding. Nonetheless, within “A Good Man is Hard to Find” O’Connor provides great amount of spiritual insight in her short stories mainly as a way to connect her characters with God and to make them recognize the true meaning of individual equality.

‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O’Connor In this short story by Flannery O’Connor, there are many characters that each bring a certain tone and mood to the story. The grandmother brings a slightly softer tone, the kids bring a playful, sassy tone, and the Misfit and his gang bring a really dark tone. Each character comes together to bring the story to the great, exciting story that it is.

The story titled, “A Good Man is Hard to find” demonstrates a typical scenario of a carjacking incident whereby family members are left shell shocked by the turn of events. The Misfit in this case is the offender with Bobby Lee used as the perpetrator of the crime because The Misfit argues that he is a good man, only prison made him change that stance. In any case, whatever happens to the Grandmother’s family has got no major relation with people being either good or bad. It is just a family group that had varied opinions and in this case as well, they had divergent views on what was actually transpiring. In the following sections, will demonstrate how the events that led to the executions of the family members are believable in this case.

The symbols start when the family goes on a road trip between the three generations, the grandmother, her son and his wife, and their children. Everyone in the family has a name except for the grandmother, who is given a title – the Grandmother. The only other major character with a title is the Misfit. These titles are a way for the author to personify symbols. O’Connor uses the characters in the story as symbols for society’s definitions

In the short story “A good man is hard to find” by Flannery O’Connor the reader is introduced to a story involving satire and dark plot twists cleverly intertwined in messages for the reader. The author starts the story with a family planning on going on a road trip that is in the area that a serial killer is on the loose. When the family wreaks the car and is found by the killer the grandma pleas for him not to kill her. Some may say that this is a selfish act on the women’s behalf, but with closer inspection one will see that the woman was trying to humanize the man and change what he was doing. It is clear throughout the story that the grandmother cares deeply for her family even if the family is unpleasant to her.

“A Good Man Is Hard To Find ”, is a short story about a man and his family. The story focuses on what happens the family when they are challenged by fate. The grandmother plays the biggest role in the story. She is responsible for the family’s fate because she intervened with their original plans. Had she not persisted on having her way, the story’s outcome would be different. In the story the grandmother has a controlling personality, the family cannot avoid their fate, and the ending provides a sense of closure.

To start off, the characters in this short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” were; the grandmother, Bailey, the children mother, June Star, John Wesley, and Misfit. These characters had little respect for one another and some just didn’t care at all. For instance, the grandmother in this story is rude, ignorant and untrustworthy. In the beginning of this story, she didn’t want to go to Florida because of a killer on the loose and she tries to tell her son bailey but he didn’t have anything to say. She then goes on to talk to the children mother and to me she was making her look like she was nothing by talking about the way she looks. The story mention that the grandmother said: “the children mother young women in slacks, whose face was as