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Analysis of Flannery O'Connor's Story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Analysis of Flannery O'Connor's Story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Flannery o'connor short stories Revelation
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The short story A Good Man is Hard To Find took place during the 1940s. The time era was popular because it included world war II, a time stricken of segregation and women's rights movements. The broad era of the story is focused around a time of segregation. Segregation was growing rapidly and more intense throughout the United States during the 1940s. The timing of where the story took place specifically in Georgia and Florida was experiencing more segregation because it was in the deep south. The broad setting of the story is that it took place during world war II, a time when most families were without loved ones. That same time people struggled to pay for necessities. In the the short story the family was clearly wealthy, considering
Literary Analysis of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”- Worry about yourself instead of others!!!
The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.
In Paul Tillich’s 1957 work Dynamics of Faith, he mentions that there are six major components of faith. These six components of faith describe the Franciscan perspective of “faith”. According to Tillich, the first component of faith is “the state of being ultimately concerned”. The second component of faith is that it is supposed to be at the center of all of our personal lives and everything that we do throughout our own individual lives. The third component of faith is that we should have an awareness for “infinite” things such as God himself. The fourth component of faith is that we need to understand that faith can act as fear, fascination, or both of these qualities at the same time. The fifth component of faith is that doubt is a major product that will always exist with faith. The last component of faith is that we need a community in order to have a “language of faith”.
The grandmother character in A Good Man is Hard to Find is the Christian icon of the story, while the Misfit represents all that is evil. True to her southern roots, ...
O’Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” The Story and Its Writer. Charters, Ann. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2011. 676-687. Print.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." Literature for Composition: Reading and Writing Arguments about Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. By Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. 404-414. Print.
In A Good Man Is Hard to Find, O’Connor gives brilliant support to the theme, even going so far as stating it in the title itself. Through her creative details and intentional use of rhetoric, O’Connor strengthens the idea that the true definition of a ‘good man’ is skewed and difficult to pinpoint. Defining a ‘good man’ varies because it is individualized from reader to reader and a generic definition cannot be composed. This gothic piece of literature is realistic, and through its theme, the reader is exposed to the flaws of society as a whole.
An extreme act is almost necessary to bring about the true reflection on one’s life and really question whether or not they are worthy of salvation. The most influential person in determining your after life could have not the slightest meaning to you now. Flannery O’Connor’s writing reflects in her own beliefs. Kaplan creates a case that “The Grandmother’s ability to accept such a death is therefore the supreme test of her faith,” (Kaplan 905). This associates to the story well; Flannery O’Connor is also in her own life suffering from a disease that, in some aspects, should take her faith into inquiry.
Just some of the last pleading words of the grandmother in the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. In the story, the author uses colloquialism, point-of-view, foreshadowing, and irony, as well as other rhetorical devices, to portray the satire of southern beliefs and religion throughout the entire piece.
Elmore Leonard once said “I don’t judge in my books. I don’t have the antagonist get shot or the protagonist win. It’s just how it comes out. I’m just telling a story.” “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, written by Flannery O'Connor, is one of the most interesting stories that we have read in this class. The protagonist in this story is the grandmother and the antagonist is The Misfit. In any other short story, the protagonist and the antagonist would not have much in common, but that is not the case in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. The three major similarities between the grandmother and The Misfit is that they are both the oldest one in their groups, they are both hypocrites, and they both are missing important spiritual relationships.
Irony make things appear to be what it is not. Flannery O’Connor and Zora Neale Hurston are two ironic authors in literature. O’Connor was a devout Roman Catholic, with a southern upbringing (Whitt); whereas “Hurston is a disciple of the greatest dead white European male, authors, a connoisseur of macho braggadocio, and a shamelessly conservative Republican who scorned victimism and leftist conformism (Sailer). Both O’Connor and Hurston use irony in their short stories; however, they use it in significantly similar ways.
Flannery O’Connor’s personal views on the justification of religion and the resulting world or corruption and depravity are apparent in her short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. She analyzes the basic plight of human existence and its conflict with religious conviction. The first two-thirds of the narrative set the stage for the grandmother, representing traditional Christian beliefs, to collide with The Misfit, representing modern scientific beliefs. The core of symbolism and the magnet for interpretation is at the end, the conversation between the grandmother and The Misfit. The conversation represents the examination of the clash between animal and metaphysical human nature and the Misfit is the literary depiction of the outcome of that clash.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2011. 1042-053. Print.
Everyone is guilty of something but few realize it. In a Good Man is Hard to Find, there are two main characters who display character traits that are extremely disturbing and hard to comprehend. The setting of this story does influence some of their actions in a negative way. Because of their behaviors the tone of this story tries to take on a sense of humor to offset their shocking actions. Using irony within the story, many characters are guilty of wrongdoings but they do not see what they are doing as wrong. Therefore, it is very difficult to find any good character within this story.
Beginning the story of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the readers are introduced to an elderly woman and