Similarities Between A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

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

Through plot, Oates demonstrates how Arnold Friend can be seen as a symbolic Satan. Plot starts when Arnold makes sure to tell Connie he is interested in her as he says,“Gonna get you baby” (Oates 1). Connie is in a drive-in restaurant for an older crowd when Arnold sees her for the first time. Once Connie leaves the drive-in dinner with a boy named Eddie, Arnold decides to make a move on Connie. Arnold uses foreshadowing to let her know he will meet her again. Just as Arnold says he is going to get Connie, he shows up in her driveway, creating a creepy situation. That Sunday afternoon, Connie is alone in her house while her parents and sister are on a picnic at one of their neighbor’s house, Arnold decides to use this opportunity to make his

In comparing and contrasting Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Joyce Carol Oates's “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” the stories contain very different plots, but they both have similarities between the characters Arnold Friend and Misfit. They appear to be mentally unstable and highly selfish by only caring about their needs. For example, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” Arnold Friend shows his mentality and selfishness by harming the main character Connie by being highly persistent. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find” the Misfit showed his mentality and selfishness by killing the grandmother when she was trying to bring out faith and his good side when the situation escalated when the car crashed. Regardless of these two completely different stories, there are several similarities between the characters Arnold Friend and Misfit in their personalities.

Arnold Friend represents Satan because of his physical character, his ability to know things about Connie, and his strange hypnotic power over her. Arnold Friend’s physical traits lead us to believe that he is trying to hide his true identity. He knows a lot of information about Connie that he shouldn’t know. He knew exactly where her parents were and what they were doing. He also has an unexplained force over Connie. This suggests that he has the power to make it seem like Connie was under his control. All of these things are common

Besides Arnold Friend physical appearance, which makes the reader assume that his character is not a human being, Oates gives him supernatural powers that a normal person could not have. One example of this is the power that he has over Connie; he knows everything that involves her: “ 'Just for a ride, Connie sweetheart.' Arnold Friend says. 'I never said that my name was Connie, she said.' And he replies: 'But I know what it is. I know your name and all about you, a lots of things, Arnold Friend said' ”(584-585). The security of Arnold Friend words gives to reader the impression that he has been watching her closely and all the time without her knowing it or noticing it. This confirms the reader’s hypothesis that Friend's is Satan. Moreover, when Connie tries to hide from him in her house, Arnold manipulates her into leaving the house simply by telling her what to do, like a puppeteer and his puppet: “You won’t want your family to get hurt. Now get up all by yourself. Now turn this way. That’s right. Come over here to me. Now come out through the kitchen to me honey and let’s see a smile, try it, you are brave sweet little girl”(591). Oates makes the reader infer that Satan’s only way to make her comes out is by using his demon powers, because the devil cannot get into your house unless you have invited him in. Therefore, he uses his

Should The Misfit be perceived as an evil, psychotic hoodlum as portrayed in the story, or does he save us from hearing any more religious rhetoric from the grandmother? “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” repeatedly preaches morality while giving readers the illusion that the Misfit is possibly a dark angel, in fact, the Misfit simply kills the family in order to prevent the family from giving away his route of escape. Ultimately, the act of saving one’s own life by killing cannot be judged as being wrong, the Misfit saves himself along with his supposed criminal counterparts, Bobby Lee and Hiram. The story provides no evidence or background on what crimes the Misfit and his gang have committed, therefore, the reader must

“Nothing about Arnold Friend is genuine, except his violent intentions and his skill at psychological and physical intimidation. By the story’s end, Connie understands that she is not the confident flirt she thought, but a powerless pawn in the hands of a dangerous individual.” (Cormier)

While reading, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" the readers find themselves lost in worlds of suspense, horror and comic relief through tone and symbolism. Although, the stories contain very different plots, they both have a sense of "good vs. evil."

In the two short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor and "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, there are many similarities in the characters ‘Misfit’ and Arnold Friend; although they aren’t clear at the beginning they become clearer after analyzing. For instance, they are both charming and know how to talk to their prey and get what they want. We see this in A Good Man is Hard to Find with the Misfit, he stays calm throughout and it almost seems like the grandmother is getting to him, saying things like "I know you're a good man. You don't look a bit like you have com- mon blood. I know you must come from nice people!" "Yes mam," he said, "finest people

The grandmother is portrayed as being a selfish self-involved woman who wants her way, a person with little memory, just a basic old woman living with her only son. The Misfit on the other hand is a man who feels he has done no wrong, but has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in the end comes too close to the truth, which scares him.

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.

Arnold Friend is a seductive man, or should I say ArN OLD FrIEND with a dark appearance hiding something deeper, something evil? Arnold, posing as a teen-age boy, is none other than the devil himself, which shows in his words and actions, and in his physical traits. From the very beginning of, Joyce Carol Oates', "Where are you going, Where Have you been?" a certain number of religious references are interspersed throughout. These references help to maintain a biblical feeling, as well as to set a path for Friend's entry into the story. They also foreshadow that; powers beyond a human level will be presented. Friend looks like one person in the beginning, but as the story unfolds, he is shown as someone else or

Flannery O’Connor’s short stories “A good man is hard to find” and “Revelation” share many similarities. While “A good man is hard to find” is about a family that goes on a vacation that ultimately results in all of their deaths. “Revelation” is about a woman who is very judgmental and looks down on people. In the end both characters have revelations that contrast with who they are and how they portray themselves to the world.

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

When we look at Falnnery O’Connors “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we see many forms of evil even before we meet the criminals. The family has a trip planned to Florida which the grandmother does not approve of because she would rather visit Tennessee. The grandmother then tries to per sway the family by instilling fear bringing up “The Misfits” who were local criminals that just escaped from prison; although her actions may seem rather insignificant and perhaps even debatable if they are evil, the grandmother’s actions can still be perceived as selfish. The grandmother’s selfish motives can be viewed as a form evil even if it is not the worst evil. This begs the question where precisely does the line lay on what is done through purely evil motives and if the line is really as clear cut as we may possibly think it is?