A Good Man Is Hard To Find Short Story Analysis

In Flannery O’Connor’s story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, words of affirmation, such as, “a good man”, are sometimes used in an inappropriate context. O’Connor writes, “Two fellers come in here last week,” Red Sammy said, “driving a Chrysler. It was a old beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me. Said they worked at the mill and you know I let them fellers charge the gas they brought? Now why did I do that” (142)? Grandmother tells Red Sammy that he let the men charge the gas because he is a good man. In this situation, Grandmother is defining the term “good man” as a man that is gullible and trusting. In this quote Red Sammy also defines the old beat-up car as a good car and chooses to believe that the men are good because they claim they have jobs. The different interpretations of words of affirmation shows how individuals feel they have the authority to judge people based on their own moral standards. When Grandmother is alone with the Misfit, he tells her, “I call myself The Misfit, because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment” (O’Connor 151). The Grandmother could also be

Grandmother says, “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people”(O’Connor 151-152)! To Grandmother, a “good man” is someone she can manipulate to get what she wants. In this case, Grandmother wants to keep her life. In some sense, I think The Misfit can be considered a good man. O’Connor writes, “I never was a bad boy that I remember of, “ The Misfit said in an almost dreamy voice” (149). The Misfit did all of the things that makes one a good person. He was a good child, a gospel singer, served his country, and was married. His time served in jail for a crime he did not remember committing was what initially labeled him as not a good man according to society’s