Literary Analysis of a Good Man Is Hard to Find

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor challenges readers to look at life through a different lense and causes her audience to make connections to the modern world from the text. Throughout the entire story, O’Connor addresses issues that are still relevant to this day by thoroughly developing each character and using each character to bring up issues that are intriguing to the audience. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a story that challenges readers to make connections and think about the world through a different lense. These thought provoking qualities are the reasons why A Good Man is Hard to Find is a must read for readers of all ages.

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).

In 1953, Flannery O'Connor published her famous short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” In this story, a family of four members is the Grandmother, Bailey, the children's mother, John Wesley, June Star and the baby. The family is on their way for the vacation after the Grandmother complaints about going to Tennessee instead of Florida; the Grandmother mistakenly brings the family to a dirt road by lying about a secret panel house (the house is actually in Tennessee, not Georgia). A car accident happens, unfortunately, they get help from the Misfit and are shot by the Misfit.

The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” was published May 12, 1995 and was written by Mary Flannery O’Connor. O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1925. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” follows a family and how they ironically met their end. The story begins as we follow a family as the grandmother of the story attempts to convince her son and his wife to avoid Florida as the family trip and go to East Tennessee instead.

The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, written by Flannery O’Connor, depicts the cold-hearted murder of a family by a group of escaped convicts led by an infamous killer, The Misfit. O’Connor leaves the readers waiting for good to overcome evil, but never lets them have their envisioned ending which gives this story its intriguing draw. Flannery O’Connor uses literary techniques such as conflicts, foreshadowing, imagery, simile, and irony to create unusual characters and a twisted plot.

In Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find", a southern family is taking a vacation to Florida, but the real journey takes place inside the family's lives. One question that comes up in the story is what the definition of a good man is and how there is so few of them left in the world. Many of the characters in the story think of themselves as good people based on moral codes that they stand by. These moral codes are deeply flawed however, leaving each character blinded by their own self-righteousness.

The story begins with a Grandmother trying to convince her son, Bailey and daughter in law to take a vacation in East Tennessee rather than Florida because of the escape of an escaped convict known as the Misfit and the children have already been there (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The Grandmother’s grandson states that she should just stay home, in which the granddaughter replied that she would not want to miss anything, as she had to always go where the family went. The Grandmother dressed as a lady, and was the first in the car, hiding her cat in a basket so her son did not see it. “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” written by (Mary) Flannery O’Connor is about a grandmother who reminisces with her grandchildren on the good versus evil in the world.

“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is a very compelling short story written by Flannery O’Connor. In this short story Flannery O’Connor tells a story of a man (Bailey) who plans on taking his family on a summer vacation in Florida, but the grandmother disagrees and insist that they go to Tennessee instead. She then tries to persuade Bailey to take the family to Tennessee by telling him that his two children had never been to Tennessee before and by showing him a news article, which showed that an escaped murderer called the Misfit was last seen headed to Florida. Bailey pays his mother no mind and takes his family to Florida anyway. Along the way the grandmother mistakenly kicks

Race is figured in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” through social status, relationships, and word choice. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor describing a family vacation to Florida, but the grandmother, the family leader, expresses her concerns about vacationing in Florida because the Misfit is on the loose. On one of the back roads the grandmother’s cat escapes causing the car to crash into a ditch where the family is confronted by the Misfit. During this time the grandmother tries to talk to the Misfit, but in the end the Misfit and his boys murder the entire family.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner shows the battle of society vs. class. The grandmother in "A Good Man is hard to find" gives great importance to being "a lady," and her ideas about what that means reflect an old-fashioned, Southern mindset. She uses the n-word and longs for the good old days when kids were polite, people were trustworthy. All of this leads her to associate being "good" with coming from a respectable family and behaving like a member of her social class; those who don't are outsiders. All of this is put to the test when she meets The Misfit.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find “ A wrong turn on a deserted road leads to a family’s demise. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a story by Flannery O’ Connor originally published in 1953. Ms. O’Connor is considered a master of the Southern Gothic style of writing. She stays true to form in this story of a family that definitely has issues. These issues lead to an untimely demise.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the short story written by Flannery O’Connor describes the events that unfold about a family who ventures out on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother who resides with Bailey, her son, and his family, disapprove of the destination, and attempts to persuade Bailey to head to east Tennessee instead. Upon learning of an escaped prisoner, the Misfit, the grandmother tries to convince Bailey and his wife to alter the plans, but they disregard her pleas. There were several events that occurred during the road trip that eventually resulted in an encounter that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is a suspenseful and intriguing story. At the beginning, the family is getting ready for a trip to Florida, but the grandmother was afraid because of the article she had read in the newspaper about The Misfit. The grandmother begged her son, Bailey, to take the family to east Tennessee instead. The grandmother tells the children an enticing story of an old house that she remembers, or so she thinks. She convinces Bailey she was certain of where the house was, but after turning on the road she remembered that the house was in Tennessee.

In O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the setting contributes to the reader's understanding of Bailey's out of tune family. We can assume the story took place in the post-war mid century era given the fact that O’Connor wrote this story in 1953 and when the grandmother says, “the way Europe acted you would think we were made of money” (O’Connor). During the 1940’s and 1950’s the backbone of the American dream was “hard work, family values, and hope” (Desmond). Families from back then were big on respect and took family time seriously. When comparing a traditional mid century family to Bailey's family there is a distinct difference that allows us to label them as a dysfunctional family. Although we do not get a look into the family's work ethic, we do get a close enough look to see their lack of family values. Throughout the story there are several times where the family reveals that they are clearly flawed with the words they choose to say or simply with their actions.

The Story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor takes place in the south; in Georgia to be exact. It falls into the Southern Gothic genre. It begins with a family that is attempting to make their journey down to Florida for vacation. Throughout the journey the Grandmother is trying to persuade her son, Bailey, that it would be a better idea to go to Tennessee. She wanted to go there so that she would be able to see family. She had also come up with the perfect excuse because there was a person, “The Misfit”, who had escaped from a correctional institute and headed south. As the story progresses, you soon are shown how rude the children actually are. They constantly say things that they honestly feel, even if they knew that it might hurt somebody’s feelings. O’Connor also really pushes this point by overstating certain traits of people that make them different.