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The theme of a short story is just as relevant as the plot. The plot summarizes the story whereas the theme suggests the values and ideas articulated within the story (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). However, the two elements are often times confused by readers. Some factors that help a reader distinguish the theme are the story’s title, character statements, and symbols within the story. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a perfect example of a short story that exhibits all the above mentioned factors to help the reader comprehend the various themes. Although there are numerous themes that could be derived from this short story, I think that one of the primary themes portrayed throughout the story is that every selfish act has an unforeseen consequence. …show more content…
The grandmother is the primary character in this story. From the beginning, it is evident that she manipulates people for her own selfish reasons. Since she does not want to visit Florida, she attempts to trick her son, Bailey, into visiting Tennessee by mentioning her fear of running into The Misfit (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). She tries to pressure Bailey into feeling guilty of permitting a chance of coming into contact with The Misfit by stating, “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p. 296). When this ploy does not sway Bailey, the grandmother decides that her next manipulative move will be to trick the children into wanting to visit a plantation from her childhood. The idea of a secret panel appeals to the children and wins Bailey’s consent. This deviation in the original trip puts them on a road that they would not have been on. At the time, the grandmother had no idea that her self-centered ways would literally be the death of her and her family Her selfish nature is even further displayed when the reader realizes that she brought her cat along even though Bailey did not want to arrive at the motel with a cat (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012).
This selfish act jeopardizes the family when the cat causes Bailey to wreck the car. The grandmother’s egotism places them directly in the path of The Misfit. However, the most disturbing act of selfishness displayed by the grandmother is her lack of concern for any of her family’s life when faced with death. She only acknowledges Bailey’s life when she hears the gunshots and is never concerned for the other members of the family. As the grandmother realizes that her life is coming to an end, she finally displays compassion instead of selfishness. She truly feels for The Misfit and his dreadful past. The grandmother’s unspeakable acts of selfishness are transfigured into blessings when she offers grace to The Misfit (Bandy, 2003). Unfortunately, this epiphany is realized too late. If she had not manipulated every aspect of the trip for her own selfish reasons, her family might still be alive.
I believe the theme of selfishness presented in A Good Man Is Hard to Find is relevant to today because as humans we all have selfish tendencies. We even unintentionally manipulate people for own advantage whether it is family, friends, or colleagues. However, all actions have consequences and others are often hurt by our self-centered acts. Even though the repercussions do not normally lead to death, our selfish acts can be detrimental to
others. References Bandy, S. C. (2003). 'One of My Babies': The Misfit and the Grandmother. In J. Witalec (Ed.), Short Story Criticism (Vol. 61). Detroit: Gale. (Reprinted from Studies in Short Fiction, 1996, Winter, 33[1], 107-118). Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.bethelu.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/H1420050919/LitRC? u=tel_a_bethelc&sid=LitRC&xid=63196fec Kirszner and Mandell, (2012). Lit. Wadsworth Cengage, Boston.
As a result, both characters had to face the consequences of their selfishness in a climatic ending to both stories, where the grandma’s family ended up being killed and the parents were locked in a room by their children and fed to the lions. Therefore, a theme portrayed through the short stories “The Veldt” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is that the easy way isn’t always the best way.
As I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and thusly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with every sentence and by doing so, the characters within the story are infinitely real in my mind’s eye. As I consider these factors, the story focuses on two main characters; that of the grandmother, who comes across as self-centered and self-serving and The Misfit, a man, who quite ingeniously, also appears to be self-centered and self-serving. It is the story behind the grandmother, however, that evidence appears to demonstrate the extreme differences between her superficial self and the true character of her persona; as the story unfolds, and proof of my thought process becomes apparently clear.
The most important aspect of this story is the actual meaning of ?A Good Man is Hard to Find.? Most people think that is a term meant just for a woman trying to find a man to fall in love with. In this story, it has a complete different meaning. Through the grandmother?s eyes, it was not only good men that were gone, but it was also the good life. I believe she was ready for death, but this was not the death that she wanted.
Though the grandmother dies in the end, O’Connor’s use of foreshadowing, characterization, and a distinct point of view lead me to believe this is the beginning of a different life for The Misfit. After he kills the grandmother The Misfit immediately starts cleaning his glasses, an indication that he sees the world in a different way. He had originally thought there was no pleasure in anything but cruelty, eventually the Misfit decides “It’s no real pleasure in life.” He had wanted to see Jesus raise the dead more than anything, and The Misfit ultimately got his wish; the grandmother had a last minute relief from her unbearable pomposity and then died, presumably redeemed. And the Misfit finds a glimpse of human empathy and compassion from the last woman we would have expected it from.
Since the beginning of the story, the readers have come to known the grandmother as a spiteful old lady due to her repulsive and deceitful attitudes toward others. Right from the start, we can see the grandmother using her manipulative tactics on her family. “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 1) This initial quote shows an early indication that the grandmother is determined to obtain whatever she wants and will not allow anything to get in her way, even if it means manipulating her own family. This line already suggests that the grandmother may have sly motives concealed in her mind. “Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is a loose from the Federal Pen a...
It’s not about her, she implies, it’s about taking “them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad.” (O’Connor 1) It’s amazing how her manipulative words can actually make it seem like she genuinely cares for the children when in reality, she is doing it so that she can get whatever she desires. It shows that the grandmother is so used to getting what she wants when the author states, “the next morning the grandmother was the first one in the car, ready to go.”(O’Connor 2) First of all, Baily never agreed to changing the destination of their trip, so why was she so eager to leave already? It is obvious the grandmother had thought about new ways to manipulate the rest of the family members overnight. That is why she was so eager to be the first one in the car to make it seem as if she was actually excited about the trip when she was actually excited about using her sinful
A brilliant storyteller during the mid-twentieth century, Flannery O'Connor wrote intriguing tales of morality, ethics and religion. A Southern writer, she wrote in the Southern Gothic style, cataloging thirty-two short stories; the most well known being “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”
The granny and the misfit are two completely opposite characters that possess two different beliefs. The grandmother puts herself on a high pedestal and the way she calls the misfit ‘a good person’ based upon his family background gives the reader an idea of what the grandmother acknowledges to be considered as ‘good’. Self absorbed as sh...
Although this story is told in the third person, the reader’s eyes are strictly controlled by the meddling, ever-involved grandmother. She is never given a name; she is just a generic grandmother; she could belong to anyone. O’Connor portrays her as simply annoying, a thorn in her son’s side. As the little girl June Star rudely puts it, “She has to go everywhere we go. She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day” (117-118). As June Star demonstrates, the family treats the grandmother with great reproach. Even as she is driving them all crazy with her constant comments and old-fashioned attitude, the reader is made to feel sorry for her. It is this constant stream of confliction that keeps the story boiling, and eventually overflows into the shocking conclusion. Of course the grandmother meant no harm, but who can help but to blame her? O’Connor puts her readers into a fit of rage as “the horrible thought” comes to the grandmother, “that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (125).
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.
She is a manipulator when it comes to any aspect of her life. Ideally, the grandmother was selfish and care about herself. For instance, when the author has her saying “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady (O’Connor). The author let it be known at that second that the grandmother was only thinking about herself. As if she was traveling with a group of strangers. Throughout the story, the grandmother shows that she can be dishonest towards her family. “She woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady” (O’Conner). The grandmother did this to manipulate the situation causing the ride to be delayed. Thus, she was lying to the children about the secret panel in the house. Therefore, she caused chaos in the car. The author made it seem that the grandmother was very content with that she has caused. Even when she realized that the location of the house that she was referring to was not up that road at all. But she remained quiet or did she know this along. She was quick to judge and tell someone what not to do. But she never turned her eye on herself. That she was selfish and dishonest to her
In the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, written by Flannery O’Connor, the theme that the definition of a ‘good man’ is mysterious and flawed is apparent. The reader must realize that it is difficult to universalize the definition of a good man because every person goes through different experiences. Thus, these experiences affect his or her viewpoint and in turn flaw ones view on a good man. O’Connor conveys this theme through her excellent use of diction, imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism as well as through a creative use of repetition and an omniscient point of view.
Flannery O’Connors’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is filled with irony. Verbal, dramatic, and cosmic, without irony of these kinds, this short story would not be as powerful as it is. O’Connor’s use of several different kinds of irony helps in communicating a strong message about humans and human condition and to successfully engage her readers.
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.
In" A Good Man is Hard to Find" there are a variety of themes. The themes in this short story are: the grace of the grandmother and The Misfit, the vague definition of a “good man”, and the class of the grandmother. All of these themes are apparent to any reader, but it does not quite seem to match O’Connor’s depth style way of writing. The two characters, the Grandmother and the Misfit change from beginning to end. Even though they are both different as night and day, they both have principles and stand by their principles no matter what the circumstance.