The Theme of a Good Man Is Hard to Find Essay

The grandmother believes The Misfit is “good” because he will not shoot a lady, which is a denial in her faith to keep her moral principles. Her theory proves to be false. The only thing “good” about the Misfit is his uniformity in living out his moral cipher of there is no pleasure but meanness in life.

Another virtue the grandmother lacks is courage. Courage is “The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger with self-possession, confidence and resolution” (Courage). When The Misfit arrives, the grandmother is nothing but a coward. She exhibits no self-possession, “Alone with The Misfit, the grandmother found that she had lost her voice” (O’ Connor 1116), displayed here when she can’t even speak. She also has no resolution to the situation but to give The Misfit her money, “‘I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!’” (O’ Connor

Flannery O' Connor, a native of Georgia was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century. As a strict Catholic, O' Connor often displayed a sense of spiritual corruption within the characters in most of her stories. One of O' Connor's famous stories, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," reveals the image of spiritual deficiency inherent in the characters which foreshadowed a bloody end.

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

   Good and bad. Right and wrong. Guilty and Innocent. These are just a few of the many themes that surround everyone's life. Everyone has their own opinion about certain issues, and they depend on their values, judgment, and beliefs to see them through their difficulties. Flannery O'Connor was quoted as saying "I see from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. This means the meaning of life is centered in our Redemption by Christ and that what I see in the world I see in relation to that" (Contemporary Authors 402). These themes are present in O'Connor's story "A Good Man is Hard to Find." The story is about a grandmother, a "good" woman who goes on

Since the beginning of mankind there is been an unsolved issue of good verses evil. We see this controversial issue in everyday life, Such as Television, Newspaper, etc. " It is not difficult to label the agent of evil in Flannery O' Connor's signature story, "A Good Man is Hard To Find", says John, Desmond. The family is described as a typical modern family, which has all type of problems. Agreeing with each other is one of the biggest problems the family faces. The story starts of where Grandma is in disagreement with her son about where they should plane there next family trip to. After much discussion they decided on going to Florida. The story makes a twist when their car gets into an accident and they have an encounter with Misfit,

At the end of the story, the grandmother only pleads for her life and never for her son Bailey or his family. “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” (O’Connor 192).The mother never showed no remorse of her son’s death even after the other two men came back with Bailey’s shirt and then took his wife and daughter. She never pleaded for the men to stop and spare their lives. The daughter June Starr selfish characters are observed when she believes her way of living is right by stating to Red Sammy’s wife “I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks! (O’Connor 189). For a very young girl she carried an arrogant attitude that was never fixed by her parents.

Religion was a recurring theme in her work, and the main characters of her first and second novels were preachers of sorts. O’Connor is best known for her short stories, specifically the book, A Good Man Is Hard To Find. This story uses the theme of sin. The grandmother makes it known that everyone is guilty of something, as she tells the Misfit that no person is without sin. This is an example of O’Connor using her faith within her writings. The grandmother also brings up praying to Jesus, when confronted by the Misfit, another Religious example in her work. O’Connor also uses the theme of family in many of her works. This is shown through A Good Man Is Hard to Find by showing the family’s relationship. Although the relationship was not tight-knit, the theme of family of is prevalent.

In the story, The Misfit’s actions and words show him to be both gentle and harsh. He is gentle with the grandmother, saying “Lady, don’t you get upset” (147) when her son curses her for letting The Misfit know she recognizes him as a wanted murderer. He even “reddened,” embarrassed for her at Bailey’s curse. The Misfit is again gentle when he speaks of his own mother (147), and when he twice asks the family to step into the woods with his men (148, 151).

I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” (O’Connor 355). She is pleading the Misfit for her life only by saying the word lady repeatedly and offering him the money. She is also praising the Misfit by calling him a good man and trying to save her life. She was also careless about her family. When her family is taken down into the woods, she continues to talk to Misfit. She ignores the sound of when her son and rest of the family were being shot. She is apparently oblivious to many things. She was ignoring everything but the Misfit. “The shirt came flying at him and landed on his shoulders and he put it on. The grandmother couldn’t name what the shirt reminded her of” (O’Connor 354). The grandmother doesn’t even realize that shirt was her son Baileys. She had no interest in knowing where that shirt came from and what happened to my family. For the concern of her life only, she tries to persuade the Misfit the same way she tried with her family. “I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people!” (O’Connor 352). She is trying to manipulate the Misfit and hopes that he will bear her. She is thinking about no one else but the sake for herself. However she fails once again to influence the Misfit.

In addition to “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor’s purpose in her use of violence can

The grandmother replies to Red Sammy stating that he did that due to the fact that he is “a good man.” The Grandmother further applies the phrase good man to the Misfit. The Grandmother asks the Misfit, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” (1,049). Misfit replies, “I would hate to have to” (1,049). The Grandmother believes that Misfit is a good man based on this even though The Misfit hates to accept that he would not shoot a lady. She further complains that the family should never abandon their doors open without the worry of burglary as they have always done. She places part of the blame on Europe for her nation’s decline and curses Europeans for spending a lot as thrift appears to be another aspect of her definition of decency. Curley argues that the Grandmother’s sense of goodness is built on traditional morals (Curley 47). In fact, in the wake of the imminent cruel murder, she believes that her old age and “respectability” will stop the Misfit from hurting her. But for Misfit, the definition of a good man is futile. He believes that he is not always a good

Before the grandmother realizes who it is that has stopped to assist them, she states, “We turned over twice!” (126), trying to gain sympathy from the men by lying about their predicament. However, this only last a few moments until she finally realizes exactly who the man is, she seals her family’s fate by blurting out “You’re the Misfit!” without even thinking about what may happen to them if she does (Walters). To this the Misfit states, “Yes’m, but it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me” (127). Though the Misfit is one of the only characters in this short story with any idea of what it means to ask morally serious questions and decided whether or not he should kill this family he now feels he has no choice in the matter (Bonney). Due to the grandmother’s outburst the Misfit feels he has no choice but to end the lives of the family because he cannot risk being caught. Thus, making it so that once again the grandmother’s inconsiderate ways are causing the family more troubles then she is

Immediately upon his exit from the penitentiary he is implied to have murdered several people by the Grandmother’s sordid report of the newspaper to Bailey: “you read here what it says he did to these people” (O’Connor, “A Good Man” 1). Although murder was perhaps necessary for his escape, the Grandmother also implies that what he did to them was in some way unusual and thus unnecessary. The motivation for this excess lies in the Misfit’s recognition and internalization of his own alterity; when one knows he is fundamentally different from the prevailing group, he understands himself as having two choices: to resist or give in. The Misfit chooses resistance and isolation; this is apparent in his life philosophy: “No pleasure but meanness” (O’Connor, “A Good Man” 13). He sees attempted reconciliation with society and life in general as a futile endeavor, and seeks to impart meaning through what appears to be senseless

Flannery O’Connor also begins her story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” with the introduction of Grandma, the main character. The grandmother appears to represent godliness and Christianity. She is said in the story to have “lacked comprehension, but… had a good heart”.