The Use of Violence in Flannery O'Connor's Stories

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

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a story about a family, the feature character is an old women, the grandmother, just like many of O’Connor’s stories. The family is going on a road trip to Florida and the grandmother attempts to divert the trip to Tennessee instead of the original destination. She warns her son Bailey of an escaped convict, The Misfit, telling him, “The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida” (1). The road trip gets diverted with the grandmother requesting they go see a house from her memory. Unbeknownst to the other travelers the grandmother had hidden her cat in the backseat of the car. The cat jumps out and causes a car wreck, which leads the family into a run-in with The Misfit and his crew. The grandmother recognizes The Misfit, eventually leading to the murder of her

Her characters never seem to find their redemption until they find God at the end. People of Christian faith have often criticized O’Connor’s works for being immoral, but in actuality, she writes about these extreme situations and portrayals of wrongdoing to express the power of God in a positive light. O’Connor both gracefully and skillfully shows the immoral character of the Misfit as well as the enlightened character of the grandmother. The characters in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” evolve through a sort of metamorphosis. There are changes that occur in their views of the world and their perceptions about life and death. In this body of work, we see those changes occur in the Grandmother and in the Misfit. The Misfit is shown to be constantly experiencing a deep inner struggle with his own convictions. We see this clearly in his conversation with the Grandmother. O’Conner’s skillful portrayal of the Misfit helps the reader to detect some obscure details of his behavior. These details, his gestures, his speech, and his thoughts are key elements in determining the Misfit’s state of mind. We see the grandmother become timid over the course of the story. She seems to have some type of identity crisis. Starting off bold and confident, we see the Grandmother very humble and timid by the end. Her ideas of what she should look like and how she should talk no longer mattered. O’Connor also shows that the Grandmother’s idea of a southern

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is an amusing story. The language is easy to read and it is straightforward. There are some parts that are relatable. For example, Bailey’s mother never listening to him. Many mothers do this, granted most don’t cause their entire family to be murdered, but the overall concept is a common theme with moms. The grandmother finds something to dislike in nearly everything that happens. This also is relatable because most women can find some type of problem in anything they do. Another reoccurring aspect in the story is the concept of being a lady. The grandmother believes that is what she is, even though it is clear she isn’t. The moral of this short story is summed up to not let your mother control your actions.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a story about an extremely unideal family going on a family trip to Florida. The story begins with the grandmother trying to convince her son to change their trips destination due to a criminal on the loose, not wanting to risk the possibility of running into him. Throughout the story there is a lot of foreshadowing seen, whether it be the grandmothers concern of running into the felon, the mentioning of Tennessee multiple times, and even the seemingly innocent cat being brought with them.

"Everything That Rises Must Converge" also uses its setting to explore place and heritage to give us better insight into the actions and feelings of the characters. Julian, living in a poor neighborhood with his mother, shortly after the integration of blacks to public transportation, struggles to get his mother to understand that the world has changed. No longer are there huge plantations with hundreds of slaves, in fact "there are no more slaves." Once fashionable neighborhoods, like the one in

When I first read the title of this short story, I thought it was going to be about a heartbroken woman who cannot seem to find a man to stay with her. It ends up being quite the opposite. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is one of many stories by Flannery O’Connor that have a dark ending. The main characters in this story are the grandmother, Red Sammy, and the Misfit. They each play a very different role but are compared very similarly.

The impact of an author’s life on their writing is vast. Many people do not see the large influence of an author’s childhood on their writings, but it plays a major role. The life of Flannery O’Connor is no exception to this. The great Catholic lifestyle of her parents helped persuade her writing of, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”

In The Good Man Is Hard to find tells a story about a family that takes a road trip from Georgia to Florida. Along the way they encounter some deep trouble that leads to tragedy. This story is told from the grandmother’s point of view about how people can become bad or good in any given circumstance. Also along the way the grandmother keeps lying to her family about places she visited as a child. These events that the author takes you through shows examples of devastation of a cold hearted individual. Ultimately the author was trying illustrate that no matter how nice you are people will take your kindness for weakness. For that said you have to watch your back no matter where you go.

In her short story "Everything That Rises Must Converge," Flannery O'Connor allows the story to be told from the perspective of Julian, a recent college graduate who appears to be waiting for a job, while living at home with his mother. His relationship with his mother is rocky at times, to say the least. It is constantly mired with conflicts about the "Old South" and the "New South". Julian must come to terms with himself, either he is an over protective son or just a pain in her ass. Even though Julian seems to dislike his mother's viewpoints, he continues to depends on her for "stability". When the final confrentation between Julian's mother and the large black women results in her having a heart attack, to which

Flannery O’Connor has a unique way of grabbing the attention of her audience. “Through the title we come to understand how the literal (the manners) connects to the spiritual (the mystery)” explained Lienard (282). Within O’Connor’s titles there must be a deeper meaning to the story. She gives an outlook on religion and life between her two main character, grandmother and The Misfit. The Misfit shows the audience someone who is in distress and the grandmother is trying to find redemption. After the misfit has killed the rest of the family, the grandmother brings up praying in hopes that she can convince The Misfit to spare her life by appealing to his religious senses

Upon initially reading Flannery O’Connor’s work, one would have no problem recognizing her use of shocking, violent, or despairing themes. It may not be as easy, however, to completely accept or understand her style. According to Patrick Galloway, one must be “initiated to her trademarks when reading any of her two novels or thirty-two short stories (1).In many of her works, she paradoxically uses styles that are grotesque and brutal to illustrate themes of grace and self-actualization. As O’Connor herself says, “I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to

Flannery O 'Connor’s works are nothing short of extraordinary. They frequently step into the realm of the extreme to make a statement or prove a point. The result is that her messages are stark and vivid, and O 'Connor is able to make bold positions on controversial subjects. She achieves this effect through a number of means, which consist primarily of Christian symbolism, character foils, and literary irony. Combined, they create rich, intense environments in which radical events push and twist characters. As a result of this stress, the characters are defined more clearly. In many instances, they achieve a kind of self realization, and their revelations usually come with an ironic factor or consequence. O 'Connor’s stories, notably

Readers can find that “ Everything That Rises Must Converge” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are Southern American literature. “Everything That Rises Must Converge” was written in the midst of the movement of American Civil rights. In the story, the settings such as ” bulbous liver-colored monstrosities of a uniform ugliness” and the “dying violet sky” make people feel moody and uncomfortable. The main character Julian’s mother has an unchangeable opinion of racism and refuses to accept the racial integration

In Everything that Rises Must Converge Julian discovers that disaster can strike at any time, and that life can't be taken for granted. When Julian’s mother falls into his arms and groans, “tell Caroline to come get me,” it horrifies Julian because he realizes that his mother is on her deathbed. As his mother stumbles away from him his stone cold excluding walls melt as he cries out to his mother in a panic wailing, ”mother, darling, sweetheart come back.” Once he reaches her and sees malformed face Julian registers that he will never be able to tell her how he appreciated that she put his needs before his. Julian then tries to run for help but he feels as tho he is not moving, as if he is trapped on a treadmill of guilt powered by the thoughts