The Misunderstood Misfit By Flannery O ' Connor

Flanner’s book a Good Man is Hard to Find is an intriguing piece of work capturing the issues of morality and spirituality within the society. It begins with fearful grandmother who prefers vacation trip to Tennessee instead of Florida persuading her son against the family taking a vacation to Florida. To achieve her aim, she tries to convince her son with a newspaper story of released dangerous criminal known as Misfit, who is headed to Florida. Nonetheless, the son and the rest of the family dismiss her, opening the story with great themes of morality, religion, family, selfishness, as well as culture expressed in fascinating literary skills.

    “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” one of O’Connor’s best works, describes a family on a trip to Florida and their encounter with an escaped prisoner, The Misfit. Although “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is an early work in O’Connor’s career, it contains many of the elements which are used in the majority of her short stories. The grandmother, a selfish and deceitful woman, is a recipient of a moment of grace, despite her many flaws and sins. A moment of grace is a revelation of truth. When the grandmother calls The Misfit her child and reaches out to touch him, the grandmother has a moment of grace that enabled her to see The Misfit as a suffering human being who she is obligated to love. The grandmother realizes that nothing will stop The Misfit from killing her but she reaches out to him despite this. The Misfit rejects her love and kills her anyway. This moment of grace is very important

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 Flannery O'Connor story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the author introduces us the grandmother’s characteristics in the beginning. The grandmother thinks she is superior to everyone else because she is a “lady." She judges others and criticized Bailey wife because she believes the mother doesn't take the children somewhere abroad. She is dishonest, dissimulation, and selfish. The Misfit appears at the end of the story. He is showing that he doesn't care about anything or believes in Christ or religious matter. The grandmother tries to influence him that he can be a good person. The grandmother is a contributing factor that tries to show the Misfit that he can be a good man. The grandmother was in fault of being selfish. The moral

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

There is a saying, “expect the unexpected.” This turns out to be true in many works of literature, and to some, it may seem so in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” However, the author, Flannery O’ Connor, subtly provides hints that foreshadows the tragic demise of the family. Through the grandma choosing to have the vacation in Tennessee instead of Florida, the grandma’s fancy ladylike outfit, the descriptive scenery, and the drive during the trip, O’Connor foreshadows the family’s fatal encounter with The Misfit.

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.

Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” focuses on the contrast between “good” and “evil.” Through the characterization of the Grandmother and The Misfit, O’Connor reveals that in reality there are no drastic differences between the two, only that one has already come to accept his fate and the other is still blinded by her own selfish ways. From the beginning, the true nature of the Grandmother begins to unfold. It is evident that she will say just about anything to get her way, only she’ll do it in a manner that illustrates her as one whose sole purpose is to look out for her family, “See here...this fellow that calls himself the misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida… I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal aloose like that… I couldn’t answer to my own conscience if I did.”(117) O’Connor’s use of the word “conscience” leads the reader to believe that the Grandmother has good morals and values, but upon further investigation it’s evident that this “good” only runs so deep. At first glance, this moment can be perceived as one filled with sincere fear on the grandmothers part, however, the chances of the family actually running into a loose criminal on a family road trip is one in a million. Which leads to the conclusion that the Grandmothers sole intention is to scare her son into submission, so that she may go to Tennessee to visit her old friends. Nearing the end of the family’s life, the Grandmother’s

The ambiguity of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories somewhat adds to the mystery of her characters and sometimes it can take away from them because as readers it is hard to feel any attachment to these rather ominous characters. It gives the chance for the reader to use their imagination but at the same time manages to anger some that prefer the endings to be set in stone. For example in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the story is tied up in a neat little bow, but it still manages to leave the reader asking questions. In this essay I will explore the language and symbolism the author used in order to try and clarify the questions left at the end of this story.

In the short fiction A good man is hard to find written by Flannery O’connor The family goes on a road trip to Florida, and the grandmother doesn’t want to go because there is an escaped murderer who is told to be headed to Florida. There are many different views of the story, but most of them revolve around the underlying religious message. The author uses foreshadowing, and irony to show what this story portrays.

In the twentieth century, Flannery O’Connor was recognized for his characters to be lacking in spirituality. In the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” this is portrayed by the grandmother who revealed the caution of the Misfit. However, it was the grandmother’s actions that foreshadowed the gory ending to the story. This novel takes place In Georgia in the 1940s and in the second part it takes place in a ditch in the middle of nowhere where the family has a car accident. Flannery O’Conner uses foreshadowing in a Good Man Is Hard To Find to clue the reader about future events caused by the misfit.

The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, written by Flannery O’Connor, depicts the story of a family – A mother and father, three kids, and a grandmother – as they travel to their vacation in Florida. On their way, they're met by an escaped convict and killed. O’Connor utilizes various writing tools to translate a message about life and the struggle of good, evil, and faith. O’Connor uses characterization, as well as foreshadowing and irony to translate her message.

In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor introduces a family whose lives ironically turn up side down while on a trip to Florida. For instance, before leaving on the trip, the grandmother (who wants to go to Tennessee in stead of Florida) tells her son, Bailey, about the newspaper article. Thus, the article states that a prisoner escapes to Florida and calls himself the misfit. However, her son basically ignores her and they end up taking the trip to Florida regardless of the warning. Also, the grandmother takes her cat, Pitty Sing, along on the trip in order to prevent any mishaps by leaving her behind. In addition, the grandmother wears a pin so that if she dies in an accident anyone who finds her, knows that she is a woman. Moreover, she points out several different sights on her way to Florida. Most significantly, she says, “Look at

Among the many mental illnesses antisocial personality disorder presents a unique challenge to identify and understand. Commonly referred to as psychopathy, it is defined as, “a mental health condition in which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting, or violating the rights of others. This behavior is often criminal,” (Vorvick and Zieve). In the short story by Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the character of the Misfit clearly shows signs of suffering from antisocial personality disorder. Understanding the Misfit as a mentally ill man, it is possible to pity him and his dilemma, enhancing the experience of the reader.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” tells a twisted story of a typical family going about a road trip embedded with ethical pit stops along the way. The story revolves around a cynical grandmother and how her unconventional attitude and habits set the stage for an interesting turn of events. Through manipulative antics, a prejudice character and an ironic story line, author Flannery O’Conner creates a captivating tale that shines a lights on readers’ own moral codes. The author does this by making an example of a woman completely unaware of her own immoral acts.