Finding Mercy in A Good Man Is Hard to Find
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 beginning of the story the negative characteristics of the grandmother are revealed. She is portrayed as being a very egocentric person. The grandmother is very persistent about getting her way. She appears to be very insensitive of the feelings of the other family members. She consistently tries to persuade the family to go to Tennessee rather than to Florida. Also, she rebelliously took the cat with her on the trip when she knew the others would object. As a result of her selfishness the family had to make a detour to stop and see the house that she insisted upon visiting.
Not only is the grandmother portrayed as being selfish, she's also very annoying. She talks from the moment they leave the house all the way until they have the accident. She is constantly talking about the scenery or telling a pointless story. She seemingly has good intentions to break the tension between the family members, but her intentions definitely fail. Instead of breaking the tension, she causes everyone to become agit...
... middle of paper ...
...maybe he will have a conscious this time. In agreement with O'Connor, the reader gains the insight that the story is "'something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida'" (Asals 178). Instead, the story is an account of a woman who shows mercy on a man who is not deserving of her grace.
Works Cited
Asals, Frederick. "On 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Rpt. in Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 177-78.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." 1955. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 193-203.
---. "On 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Rpt. in Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 175-76
O?Connor, Flannery. ?A Good Man is Hard to Find.? Literature: An introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2002.
Once in Chicago, Bundy hitched a train and traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Five days later Bundy stole a car and drove all the way to Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, Bundy entered a bus and reached Tallahassee, Florida on January 8, 1978. He ended up in a small room in a boarding house near the campus of the University of Florida State; this is when Bundy went back into his psychotic way.
Douglas, Ellen. "O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.'" Contemporary Literature Criticism. Eds. Carolyn Riley and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1976. Vol. 6. 381.
The grandmother’s personality is that of the typical human character. We all know someone like her. Some of us, more than likely, are her. The key is to break down those nuances of her and see our own selves within. We see her behavior exposed within the first sentence of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey’s mind.” (O’Connor, 186) Immediately we are given evidence of a stubborn, will-bending woman. Her personality grows uglier as the story continues, she compares her daughter-in-law’s face to a cabbage, later she sneaks her cat in the car, lies about details of a house to have her way, and soon after even hides the fact that she has the family driving in the...
Flannery O’ Connor’s story: “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the tale of a vacation gone wrong. The tone of this story is set to be one irony. The story is filled with grotesque but meaningful irony. I this analysis I will guide you through the clues provided by the author, which in the end climax to the following lesson: “A Good Man” is not shown good by outward appearance, language, thinking, but by a life full of “good” actions.
First, Locke believes that everyone has the opportunity to cultivate the land that they own, which ideally is a proportionate share of the surrounding environment, and nothing more (Locke, Sec. 36). Locke’s theory of property is not just relative to physical entities, it can be an intellectual entity as well. An individual may have certain experiences and knowledge, develop theories and come to their own conclusions. Publishing said works are seen as property in the eyes of Locke as well. Another strength would be the logic of Locke’s argument, if you input your labour, that commodity becomes your own. Truth of this can be seen in section 33 of Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government, when Locke suggests that labour increases the value of land exponentially because when people own land themselves, they are more likely to increase the productivity of that land. According to Locke, the true value of land does not stem from the land, rather the labour invested in it. Locke’s theory however, does not take into account the processes in which someone becomes an owner. One of the main stances Locke outlines in his theory of property is that he equates property to being a natural right. Locke deems the right to private property to be equally important as life and liberty, however they cannot be
There are three stages of thought for the Grandmother. During the first stage, which is in the beginning, she is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. The second stage occurs wh...
Geox’s distribution network is one of its key successes, which has been developed in accordance to each country’s respective distribution structure and calibrated to serve a widespread network of multibrand clients. Additionally, Geox’s marketing technique makes it special in that it does not use models of even celebrities to market. Instead Geox chooses to use images of the product, alone which emphasizes its product’s unique technology. Geox markets itself as an organization that is based upon innovative technology as well as research and development. Another factor that Geox owes its competitive advantage too is its group structure, which helped maintain and expand its impressive distribution network, recognizable brand name, and quality with the use of third part producers. Another factor that Geox owes to its competitive advantage was the fact that it is a one-stop-shop for families and the fact that its brand is so
A saviour sibling is a child who is conceived through the use of IVF and born in order to treat an older brother or sister who has a fatal disease; the child’s genes, which are a genetic match, are selected to ensure the developed foetus will be free from the original disease and able to treat the existing child (Cambridge Dictionaries, 2016).
There is little to no mention of any statistics that might show when, and thereby, why, cigarette smoking gained popularity. The author also fails to provide cultural context in many areas. Alleged masculine values in America are presented as fact, when there is no evidence, aside from the author’s word, that this is true. The arguments would be much stronger had the author successfully differentiated between correlation and causation. At times, the article is unbalanced, such as the argument surrounding post-World War Two advertising. Within the article, it is unproven that there was a spike in cigarette smoking in men. It was also unproven that the advertisements had an effect. The article ignores the possibility that the increase in smoking among men was merely a consequence of reaching a few opinion leaders. As cigarettes are such an addictive product, simple curiosity in the privacy of one’s home may have turned some men into smokers.
Property for Locke does not just include land; it involves labour, money, and also material possessions. Examining his definition of property to some extent highlights the inegalatarian outcome of his theory as individuals cannot acquire all of these, as some may have more of one and others have less of the other. This criticism is further highlighted by Monk (1993:88) who found that ‘ ‘property’ in the seventeenth century was often used more widely to denote any rights of a fundamental kind, and fundamental rights were often claimed to be inalienable… The right and duty or ‘property’ of humanity requires, first and foremost, our survival. What we take and eat from nature in order to survive becomes our ‘property’ in a number of senses’. The inegalatarian outcome of his theory becomes even more prevalent as the survival of members depends on several factors, and not just necessarily
Sexual education in schools is a hotly debated subject between government, school administrators, teachers and parents. It appears the objective of this course is not only to teach students biological sex, but personal choices as well. The course is usually fashioned in a two day format, and has little or no follow up, regarding the understanding or comprehension of the student. Sexual Education in schools, often offends student’s morals and religious beliefs, frequently omits biological truths, lacks emphasis on the emotional and psychological aspect of being sexually active, and is thought to be an intrusion of the parent-child relationship.
These resources can be classified as low temperature (less than 194 degrees F), moderate temperature (194 – 302 degrees F), and also high temperature (greater than 302 degrees F). The uses to which these resources are applied are also influenced by temperature. If the reservoir is to be used for direct-heat application, the geothermal water is usually fed to a heat exchanger before being injected back into the earth. Heated domestic water from the output side of the heat exchanger is used for home heating, greenhouse heating, vegetable drying and a wide variety of other uses.
Geothermal heat pumps are different from other heat pumps in that they use ground heat instead of extracting heat out of the air. This provides greater efficiency especially as the air temperature becomes very cold. “While many parts of the country experience seasonal temperature extremes – from scorching heat in the summer to sub-zero cold in the winter – a few feet below the earth’s surface the ground remains at a relatively constant temperature. Depending on latitude, ground temperatures range from 45°F (7°C) to 75°F (21°C). Like a cave, this ground temperature is warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. This allows the system to reach fairly high efficiencies (300%-600%) on the coldest of winter nights, compared to 175%-250% for air-source heat pumps on cool days” (“Geothermal Heat,” 2011). With this capability the advantages become very favorable, which can significantly outweigh the additional cost.
So far, scientists have not found a successful substitute for fossil fuels that can handle both the large demand for energy and solve the global warming problem. I propose that geothermal energy is a clean, widely available, and renewable alternative to the usage of fossil fuels. In this paper, I will explain how use of geothermal resources can be energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective. I believe that the US government should increase funding for geothermal energy research. This may be the solution to our present energy crisis and global warming.