The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

The Grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard To Find” is the one of the most prominent characters in the story. Moreover, her personality is quite interesting and greater than most, for she casts an ascendancy over the other characters in the story. Great in the sense that her personality was quite faceted.; though not a particularly admirable mixed bag of personality elements. Evidence of her complexity is sprinkled throughout the story: The Grandmother enticing her grandchildren to get their father to go to a particular area; her interest and enthusiasm for being regarded as a “lady” (357), which is a euphemism for a term you would use when referring to a woman in the upper class; not to mention, a proclivity for doing whatever she deems necessary to get what she wants. The aforementioned examples are proof that The Grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard To Find" is massively status conscious, manipulative, and juvenile.

The grandmother in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ is entirely obsessed with herself. She is so sure that she is a lady and correct in all things that she lives in a constant delusional state stemming from some better time in her past. Her pride and delusions even led to the death of her family and herself by a man who claims there is no pleasure in the world and does atrocious things to anger God. The idea behind the story is that the absence of belief and obsession with self leads to terrible things, including a meaningless death and final realization of whom and what one really is. The story starts with the sentences “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.

The grandmother in the beginning seems to be a very curious, kind, and old fashioned woman. As the story progresses she turns into this self-centered selfish woman. She appears like this in times like when she tells story’s (old fashioned) about her past experiences and the excited way she points out things (innocence and kindness.). I dislike that her curiosity is what lead the family to their death. Overall she remained the only character I liked so when she was killed I was left disappointed.

     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

Similar to every character in any given work of literature, the grandmother from “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” had several attributes, both pleasing and vexatious. Of all her many qualities, I greatly valued her ability to consistently speak her mind, even in the face of danger. Never was she shy to give way to her true emotions and allow those around her to view her perspective on the events occurring within her life, a rarity in today’s society. Additionally, it was made obvious how deeply she cared for her family in her desperate attempt to persuade The Misfit to return to the “good man” she assumed he once was and therefore permit the family to safely escape the dangerous predicament. Likewise, the grandmother was a Christian woman that

O'Connor does the same thing here; the grandmother's first action was to convince her son, Bailey, into going were she wanted to go, a selfish act, not a trait that we see a grandmother having. Also she thought out a plan to get what she wanted by acting as if she cared about her family's safety. "Now looks here, Bailey........ see here, read this...Here this fellow that calls himself the Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed towards Florida and you read here what is says he did to these people(328)." The grandmother's relationship right away to the reader is one that can not be trusted. Throughout the story you now question the grandmother's intentions, are they honest or selfish.

“The grandma didn’t want to go to Florida” (par. 1) was the first sentence in this short story which clearly reveals grandma’s selfish ways. The bible tells us to love our neighbor as we love our self and not to bear false witness, but grandma struggles with these two sins. The author, Flannery O’Connor, noticeably demonstrates in her writing that grandma loves herself more than anyone, and will lie for her own selfish desires. Grandma intentionally brought the cat on the trip, without anyone else’s knowledge, because she thought being gone for three days would cause the cat to “miss her” (par.10). The cat is what instigated the car

Finally, she found herself saying “Jesus, Jesus, meaning, Jesus will help you (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). "The grandmother labeled “a good man” to anybody who seemed good her. The Misfit labeled a “good woman” to the grandmother by saying, “ She would

O'Connor’s incorporation of tone allows the reader to understand that the feelings made by the environment and characters are important to the theme of the story due to its effect specifically on the grandmother. At the beginning of the story when the family invites the grandmother on a road trip to Florida, she begins to complain stating that “the children have been to Florida before... You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad” (O’Connor 501 ). This tone from the grandmother can be portrayed as bossy and authoritative even though she attempts to disguise it with an excuse of bettering her grandchildren even though the family did not have to invite her on the trip. The

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.

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

She was one to always create things to be about her, and, even worse, O’Connor shows the grandma putting herself before her loved ones throughout the whole story. From the beginning of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing every chance to change Bailey’s mind.” (925). The grandmother could have cared less about what the rest of the family wanted, she only wanted what she thought would be fun to her.

Looking at “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the reader is introduced to a family very early on in the story. With a particular character standing out, the grandmother. Her

The grandmother is the central character in the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor. She is also a very well rounded and dynamic character. She shows various characteristics and reveals various remarks as they story progresses. Some of her qualities include selfish and a pushy person. She is also kind of manipulator in a way that she insists her family to change the plan. At the beginning of the story when we first realize her desire to visit her childhood house, she is being a very selfish person. Examining her conversation with her son Bailey, the grandmother is moreover a pushy person. She is convincing Bailey to change the trip plan according to her need only and which will

Grandma didn’t want to go to florida. We’re halfway there and she’s going whether she likes it or not. Grandma, blinded by her 93 years of age no longer sees value in the smaller things in life. Her oldest grandchildren frightened by the loss of their dear grandmother devise a scheme to save the poor old grandmother. The children will take their grandma to the silver beaches of the florida coast and wade her into the crystal clear water of the gulf shores in hopes to refill her old bones with the strength of a young woman.