Analysis of A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor Essay

Two more pertinent points are made by the author, in regards to the grandmother, follow in quick succession; both allude to further yet-to-be seen gloom within the story. O’Connor writes of the grandmother “[s]he didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself” (1043) and of the way she is dressed “[i]n case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (1043). These two observations are innocent enough on the surface but provide true intent on the foreshadowing that O’Connor uses throughout the story. It is these two devices, irony and foreshadowing, that I feel are prominent and important aspects of the story and are evidenced in my quest to decipher this story.

In" A Good Man is Hard to Find" there are a variety of themes. The themes in this short story are: the grace of the grandmother and The Misfit, the vague definition of a “good man”, and the class of the grandmother. All of these themes are apparent to any reader, but it does not quite seem to match O’Connor’s depth style way of writing. The two characters, the Grandmother and the Misfit change from beginning to end. Even though they are both different as night and day, they both have principles and stand by their principles no matter what the circumstance.

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the story of a family’s vacation tragically ended by The Misfit and his gang. On the way to their vacation spot in Florida, the Grandmother remembers a plantation in Georgia she used to visit when she was a young lady and desperately wants to see it. She tells her son, Bailey, what road it is on and everyone is excited to see it. After a while, the grandmother realizes that she was wrong about where the plantation was and becomes so upset at herself that she knocks things over in the car which causes a car accident. A passing car stops to help the family but the Grandmother realizes that one of the men is a murderer, nicknamed, The Misfit. While one of

In the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, written by Flannery O’Connor, the theme that the definition of a ‘good man’ is mysterious and flawed is apparent. The reader must realize that it is difficult to universalize the definition of a good man because every person goes through different experiences. Thus, these experiences affect his or her viewpoint and in turn flaw ones view on a good man. O’Connor conveys this theme through her excellent use of diction, imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism as well as through a creative use of repetition and an omniscient point of view.

In today’s society, several individuals have come across a point where they were on the verge of the death. Murder is constantly being thrown across headlines, news reports, and social media throughout America. It has become a disastrous factor throughout many individual’ lives. Viewing families suffer from their lost loved ones, as well as the murder of innocent lives have been tremendously relevant in today’s society. What many individuals fail to understand, is what actually happens during their last seconds on earth. Throughout the short story, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” O’Connor uses a Grandmother to convey to the readers the actually value of goodness an individual tends to gain when confronted with death. Just as revealed in the short story, violence frequently triggers an individual’s actions when presented with death. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” Flannery O’Connor uses theme, conflict, and religion in order to portray the false acts of goodness projected by the grandmother.

In the O'Connor story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," Southern Gothic literature is portrayed. Southern Gothic literature paints a picture of what life was like in the "Old South" and also includes bizarre turns of events and outlandish characters. The grandmother, is the protagonist, and the main character of O'Connor's story, about a family that travel on a vacation together and lose their lives by "The Misfit," a random man on the side of the road. The grandmother, who remains unnamed for the duration of the story, demonstrates a "her way or the highway" type of personality. The family is going on vacation to Florida, but she has relatives she wants to visit in Tennessee. So, instead of just asking her son, Bailey, if they could go to Tennessee instead, she cleverly attempts to trick him by saying, "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people" (O'Connor). She then, continues her devious plot, by referring to the safety of Bailey's children, when she states, "I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did" (O'Connor). That didn't go as planned, so she tries again, implying that it has nothing to do with her, but the kids have already been to Florida. Throughout the story, Bailey's mother continues the same type of tactics to get her way. For example, she mentions that, at the old house in Tennessee, "There was a secret panel in this house," she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, "and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found . . ." (O'Connor).

     You can also tell a lot about the old woman by what she is wearing. In the car, she wears white gloves, a sailor hat, and a navy blue dress. She states that the prominent clothes are worn so that if anything happens, the people that find her body will know that she was a lady (Page 427). I think she wore this outfit so that she could think she was something she was not. It is clearly seen that in her youth, she lived in prosperity. She had everything from youthfulness to money and to love. Now, she almost dreaded life because her beauty and youthfulness were gone. She would talk about her past because it would take her away from the misery of the present.

The concept of being a “good” person has painted the picture of how people have handled their lives throughout history. On the same note, this concept has also been the subject of much debate; such is the case in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The protagonist, the unnamed grandmother struggles to find the “good” in others and herself. O’Conner uses foreshadowing, characterization, and a distinct point of view to make her point. In my interpretation, her point is that only through conflict and turmoil can good truly be found.

The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.

The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor, is about nuclear family in the 50’s who decided to go to East Tennessee for vacation instead of Florida. The grandmother said that the way Tennessee opposes the Misfit, a criminal who escaped from jail, was one of the main reasons for her choice. On the way, the grandmother suggests going to an old mansion she once visited by deceiving the kids to force Bailey to seek out the place but the grandmother made a mistake with the location. Embarrassed, the grandmother jerks her feet and Pitty Sing, the cat, escapes the basket and surprises Bailey, who wrecks the car. Later, the family meets the Misfit and his partners and the Misfit kills them all after the

As a gesture of love, acceptance, and forgiveness, the grandmother goes to touch the Misfit; he, however, shoots her dead. The Misfit is aware that “grace worked through him to strengthen the woman’s faith” (108). This scene defines the moment of grace in the grandmother’s life as she was able to fill her conscious with compassion by viewing him as one of her own children. An interesting remark is that the Misfit In the midst of such heartbreak and violence, the grandmother was able to feel love and sympathy towards the criminal. O’Connor emphasizes the dramatic transformation of the grandma in traumatic times from selfish and manipulative to benevolent and warmhearted.

The story “A Good Man is Hard To Find” begins with a family planing to take a vacation to Florida. The grandmother who does not want to take the vacation in Florida is persuading the family. She has read about a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit, who is on the run, heading for Florida. The mambas of her family ignore the grandmother. On the day of the trip, ironically, the grandmother is dressed in her Sunday best. She is decked in white gloves and navy blue dress with matching hat. She is the first one in the car and ready to go. O'Connor is getting the reader to visualize the Southern culture. The grandmother’s purpose of dressing this way is to be recognized as a lady, in case someone saw her dead on the highway. This tells me the grandmother’s thoughts of death are shallow. Later in the story, the Misfit says, "There never was a body that gave the undertaker a tip.” The grandmother’s readiness for death is an indication that she does not want to go where there is a prisoner on the loose. However, her thoughts for death changes when she recognizes the Misfit. As the trip moves on,

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find, the author, Flannery O’Connor states many points in this short story. It is to be said that O’Connor is a very religious, catholic, in fact (Vol. 2 pg. 97). O’Connor has stated her religious views in most of her fiction stories. O’Connor was also known for her stories on violence. Readers sometimes find O’Connor’s fictions to be weird with such turning points in her stories. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” has many turning points and moods. The story starts off random with an elderly woman not wanting to travel to Florida, instead Tennessee. The grandmother tags along with her family to Florida hesitantly, despite her feeling so-so after reading about a criminal being on the loose. Readers get to know each character in the story when Flanner O’Connor goes into detail about the family’s road trip to Florida. The grandmother seems to be very old fashioned with the way puts herself to her grandchildren. She seems very kind and caring but also a little bit selfish. Grandmother also seems to have a kind of personality that makes some points of the story silly. Violence is also a big point in this short story. While going through Georgia, the family stops by a small rundown restaurant (O’Connor 6-9). Red Sam, the owner of the restaurant seems to get into great conversation about how times in their current day was so much different than back in their day, talking

This story of irony identifies one of the worst anxieties of modern life, when violence from an unknown assailant, kills reality. The Story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by author Flannery O’ Connor, presents and argues to prove to readers that a common mistake of good vs. evil occur throughout this story. In this reading we know that the two main characters the grandmother and the misfit are both viewed as recipients of grace. No one is perfect and as the author Flannery O’ Connor lived her life she understood this as an outlook from her Christian Theology. O’Connor’s way of portraying the characters shows how she believes that man has fallen short of glory and grace. Her

O’Connor portrays the grandmother as a woman who is conscious of everyone else, except for herself (Harris). She is constantly well-dressed, and never wearing slacks: “but the grandmother had on a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print” (O’Connor). These characteristics portray her values: She is well dressed, opinionated, wants to be respected and projects being a