Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

1204 Words3 Pages

As humans, everybody thinks of themselves dying and whether or not they will go to heaven or hell. Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find, presents the overall theme of death all throughout her story. She also talks about how racism is evil, specifically talking about the grandma. She also writes in this story, to let the readers know to appreciate what is around us. She writes about the evil in the world and makes reference to heaven and hell a lot and that ultimately god chooses who goes to hell and who goes to heaven. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the author made a lot of references to heaven and hell. O’Connor writes, “The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled” (354). She was referencing heaven in this statement. Heaven to everyone in the world is this big beautiful white place. It is said to be in the clouds which are white. O’Connor also states, “The old lady settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves and putting them up with her purse on the shelf in the front of the back window. The children’s mother still had on slacks and still had her hair tied up in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once she was a lady” (354). This foreshadows what happened at the end of the story, but also makes sure the reader notices the use of all of her white attire. This also is a big part of the story because the grandma is not a lad... ... middle of paper ... ... sky” (365). It is like the grandmother was free of everything. She was finally at peace with herself and was finally the person she wanted to be. There are a bunch of themes in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find. Do not be racist is one, because racism is evil. Appreciate what is around you is another, do not take things for granted. The family in this story did not appreciate things until it was too late. We do not want to live our lives with regret, and that is what O’Connor wants the readers to comprehend. She also wants everyone who reads this story to live the way God would want someone to, not because they want something in return but because they are truly good people. The last theme, is that you cannot outrun death no matter how anybody tries. If a person is meant to die, it’s going to happen, and then they will be gone with the wind.

Open Document