Irony and Foreshadowing in Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find

When an author writes a story, he or she will generally use different writing techniques to create the piece. These techniques have the ability to turn a story into something truly unique, as they allow the story to unfold in it’s own way. In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, author Flannery O’Connor used the techniques of symbolism and foreshadowing throughout the entire piece to create a deeply captivating story, as so many of the details mentioned in the beginning of the story are glimpses of the end.

In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," Flannery O'Connor represents her style of writing very accurately. She includes her "themes and methods - comedy, violence, theological concern - and thus makes them quickly and unmistakably available" (Asals 177). In the beginning of the story O'Connor represents the theme of comedy by describing the typical grandmother. Then O'Connor moves on to include the violent aspect by bringing the Misfit into the story. At the end of the story the theme changes to theological concern as the attention is directed towards the grandmother's witnessing. As the themes change throughout the story, the reader's perception of the grandmother also changes.

In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor starts out by giving a look at a dysfunctional family on a vacation, but ultimately, gives insight into ourselves as well as the nature of good and evil, how they can clash, and how they can co-exist, even in the same person. The setting, which plays a critical role in this short story because the grandmother shows her selfish wants and views on people and society and believes that things were much better in her early years. As the story unfolds the setting provides insights to the where the dysfunctional family will eventually meet their doom, which is

The grandmother and The Misfit of Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' are backward, opposite images of each other. However, the grandmother does have similarities with the character, Ruby Turpin in O'Connor's short story, 'Revelation'.

The twist and turns of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” leave the reader perplexed and riveted, relaying that the utmost thought went into the outline of the story. The author leaves the readers waiting for good to prevail over evil but never lets them have their intended ending as most stories do which is what gives this story it 's intriguing draw. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor uses literary techniques such as conflicts, foreshadowing, imagery, simile, and irony to create eccentric characters and a twisted plot.

Along with foreshadowing, characterization is also an extremely important aspect of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. O’Connor’s story has many supporting characters, such as the children and the misfit’s accomplices whose characters and personalities can only be shown through their actions. We do not get a clear picture of how they feel, or who they truly are. The main character is a different story however, the grandmother lets us know how she is feeling throughout the story. The grandmother would be considered primarily a stock character, because for the most part, she fills the typical grandmotherly role. She is a nurturer, even if it is only to the baby, and her cat. She is also stuck in her ways of life, and doesn’t wish to change how she is. At the same time however, she is not a perfect fit to the mold. Most grandmothers are not selfish, egocentric, and conniving the way she is. These modifications in her personality cause the reader to be unable to predict what the grandmother is going to do. On the other hand, the Misfit is more than likely different than anyone you have ever meet, or read about. The Misfit’s character was in no waya stock character. Nevertheless it seemed like his actions were slightly easier to predict. While his motives might have been a mystery, I felt that I knew what was going to happen.

Writing stories with conflict and an underlying message may be a difficult task, but writer Flannery O’Conner has very little issues doing so. Many of O’Conner’s writings provide the reader with a plot twist from a character that seems to lack interest from the beginning. In her writing “A Good Man is Hard to Find” O’Conner provides the reader with a message of good and evil. Much of “Good Country People” can be compared to “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” O’Conner prepares her work by using a character, such as the grandmother, to sway the reader that the grandmother should be a sweet older woman who may not contribute much of her background to the story.

A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is a short story about good and evil. Critics have argued that one should interpret the story as a parable of grace and redemption but others disagree, and argue that one needs to find other meanings of the text. When reading this story, some readers believe this story is actually a moment of grace and redemption just as the author wants us to, but other readers believe this is not a story of grace and redemption, but a story that shows a self-centered grandmother, that would say and do anything to save herself. I believe that the grandmother in this story did not have a “moment of grace” but a moment in which she tried to save herself from being killed by the Misfit.

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, O’Connor tells the story mainly on the emphasis of the grandmothers prospective. The grandmother was never named in the short story, only leaving the reader to guess if this story was how O’Connor portrayed a feeling toward society and religion. In order for the reader to understand the point of view of the story, the reader must look at the back ground of the author. Born in Georgia, where the story takes place, O’Connor was raised a devout Roman Catholic in the largely Protestant South. Due to O’Connor’s Catholic religion and conservative upbringing in the protestant south it is easy to see her obvious disapproval with society and others religious values. O’Conner died at a young age from an illness, an illness that had taken her father’s life when she was just a teenager. During her short time of writing she only published two novels and a collection of stories. The title story of the collection, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” is O’Connor’s most famous. (Larson) O’Connor’s uncanny blend of wicked humor, brutal violence, and religious concepts produced the unmistakable literary voice of one of the most important short story writers of the 20th century. (183)

Flannery O'Connor uses the grandma's characteristics to describe her character development in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” In the beginning of the story we the grandma is the kind of woman who does not take no for an answer. She is arrogant, but towards the ending, with the help of The Misfit she changes into the complete opposite of what she was in the beginning. These major characteristics help the reader get a deeper understanding of the grandma and also help fully understand how the grandma develops into the kind of person she is in the end.

James E. Faust once said, “In this life, we have to make many choices. Some are very important choices. Some are not. Many of our choices are between good and evil. The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices.” In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor discussed the difference between good and evil within the characters of the short story. The Misfit has his henchmen kill the family, and the grandmother ultimately only thinks of herself and not the rest of her family. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, Flannery O'Connor shows the readers multiple meaning of symbolism throughout the characters relations to faith, places, and outlook on their surroundings.

A Good Man is Hard to Find is one of the most characteristic and most frequently anthologized of all of O'Connor's works. This story explores the idea that unfortunate events can lead to knowledge. The plot of this story is simple and clear: a family on vacation is killed by an escape convict. O'Connor does a great job in "...preparing for and unfolding the dramatic conflict between the grandmother and The Misfit, O'Connor creates pure art out of the tragicomedy of life"(DLB vol.2 383). In this, O'Connor shows her characteristics of a good Christian writer: good is at any rate contorted out of evil. In all of O'Connor's stories there a certain pattern of a saving gesture or revealing word. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the saving gesture is the grandmother's recognition of The Misfit.

“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.

Many people have a different definition of a “good” man. Flannery O’ Connor short-story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” gives readers a brief view on the subject. In the story the foundation for what makes a good man seems to only come from the grandmother. However when she is faces with a disadvantage by Misfit, he puts a twist on her views, and shatters that foundation. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is neither a happy nor sad story, both characters have many flaws and seem undeserving, but through an unexpected encounter they both found grace and redemption.

In Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard To Find, one is struck by the unexpected violence at the end of the story. However, if you re-read the story a second time, you will see definite signs that foreshadow the grotesque ending. The story begins with the typical nuclear family being challenged by the grandmother who doesn't want to take the vacation to Florida. She has read about a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit who is on the run heading for Florida. Unfortunately, she is ignored by every member of the family except for the little girl, June Star, who can read the grandmother like an open book. The fact that she admonishes Bailey, her son, of this Misfit