Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is about the misfortunes a family experiences while embarking on a vacation, but it goes further to depict the divergence between the superficial conflict in everyday life and the true battles in life threatening situations. O’Connor’s use of tone, syntax, and diction helps to develop the characters and illustrate the struggle of good versus evil, shedding light on the harsh reality of the prevalence and depth of real evil.
In the beginning of the short story O’Connor’s use of a dark and humorous tone allows the audience to feel pity for the grandmother. The first sentence, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida” shows the reader the family does not worry about the grandmother’s
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opinion; even her own son, Bailey, ignores the wishes of his mother to go to Tennessee. The children blatantly ridicule the grandmother, John Wesley says “’If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?’” and June Star replies “’She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day,’” and the parents do nothing to reprimand them. The struggle between the young children and the grandmother begins the struggle between good and evil. Although this conflict is harmless, O’Connor is using this humorous image to evoke an empathy for the grandmother. The audience feels this way because the grandmother means well, but she is outright disrespected by her entire family. O’Connor then reinforces the grandmother’s good nature by writing “She didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself.” This line also begins to hint at the dark nature of the story. While on the trip, the narration along with the dialogue, continues to contribute to the development of the characters. When the family stops for lunch June Star starts dancing after the family orders their food, afterwards the woman behind the counter says “’ Ain’t she cute?’ …’Would you like to come be my little girl?’” and June Star replies “’No I certainly wouldn’t,’ …’I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks!’” After watching June Star the grandmother says “’Aren’t you ashamed?’” O’Connor’s use of dialogue between the family and some strangers shows the contrast in the grandmother’s feelings and rest of the family’s. When the owner enters he says “’These days you don’t know who to trust, Ain’t that the truth,’” to no one in particular, and the grandmother replies “’People are certainly not nice like they used to be.’” The audience continues to see the grandmother as the family’s moral compass. When the family is back in the car, the grandmother relays a narrative about an old plantation house she had visited when she was younger. Bailey refuses to stop and let the grandmother see it, it is only when the children want to go Bailey breaks down and agrees. It is clear to the audience that the children’s wants are more important than the grandmother’s in this family dynamic. So far in the short story we see only superficial good, the grandmother, opposing superficial evil, which is the children. Later on when the family has had an accident they have the misfortune of crossing paths with “The Misfit.” The audience loses some pity for the grandmother when she says “’You’re The Misfit!’ ’I recognized you at once’” because we know something bad will happen and it is her fault.
The grandmother says “I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people,” showing how she is trying to find a shred of hope in a murderer. O’Connor’s use of southern diction and religious banter develop the grandmother away from superficiality and towards genuineness. The grandmother says “’Listen,’…’you shouldn’t call yourself The Misfit because I know you’re a good man at heart. I can just look at you and tell.’” The Misfit replies “I pre-chate that, lady,’” by using the phonetic spelling instead of proper diction O’Connor is showing that the grandmother believes he is a fellow southerner. The grandmother is talking to The Misfit about salvation and she has an epiphany, O’Connor writes “His voice seemed to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant. She saw the man’s face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, ‘Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!’” After discussing religion and seeing his perspective the grandmother finally feels real sympathy for The Misfit; up until that point the grandmother had been trying to compliment and talk her way out of being killed along with the rest of her family. Unfortunately this is also when the struggle between good and evil ends with the grandmother being killed, “The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest.” The Misfit then says “‘She would of been a good woman’ … ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.’” He realized that her gesture at that moment was out of pure kindness and
empathy. Throughout the short story the broad theme of the struggle between good and evil is evident. Flannery O’Connor’s use of tone, syntax, and diction creates a dark but humorous image that sheds light to the grim reality of predominant evil. This short story also shows the reader the difference between superficial good and evil in contrast with true good and evil.
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.
Southern family preparing to go on what seems to be a typical vacation. The story is humorous at first because the reader is unaware of how the story will end. The tone changes dramatically from amusing to frightening and plays an important part in making the story effective.
Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find is one of the most well-known short stories in American history. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a disturbing short story that exemplifies grace in extremity as well as the threat of an intruder. The story tells of an elderly grandmother and her family who embark on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother is a stubborn old woman with a low sense of morality. While on the trip, the grandmother convinces her son to take a detour which results in a broken down car and an encounter with a convicted fugitive, The Misfit. Although the grandmother pleads for mercy, The Misfit kills off the rest of her family. Through the grace she finds in her extreme circumstance, the grandmother calls The Misfit her own and implores him to spare her life. The Misfit does not oblige her and states after her death, “She would have been a good woman if it had been someone to shoot her every day of her life.” Through Flannery O’Connor’s disturbing and shocking display of the grandmother’s demise, she gives the reader a sense of the threatening power of an intruder and the idea of extreme situations bringing about a state of grace. The reason for such a powerful work may have resulted from Flannery O’Connor’s religious upbringing as well as the state of the nation at the time.
There are three phases of thought for the Grandmother. During the first phase, which is in the beginning, she is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. The Second Phase occurs when she is speaking to The Misfit. In the story, The Misfit represents a quasi-final judgment. He does this by acting like a mirror. He lets whatever The Grandmother says bounce right off him. He never really agrees with her or disagrees, and in the end he is the one who kills her. His second to last line, "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life," (O'Conner 152). might be the way O'Conner felt about most of us alive, or how she felt that God must feel about us.
The grandmother and The Misfit of Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' are backward, opposite images of each other. However, the grandmother does have similarities with the character, Ruby Turpin in O'Connor's short story, 'Revelation'.
Flannery O’Connor is a master of the ironic, the twisted, and the real. Life is filled with tragic irony, and she perfectly orchestrates situations which demonstrate this to the fullest extent. A Good Man is Hard to Find is an excellent example of the mangled viewpoint which makes her work as compelling and striking as it is.
The grandmother has never truly understood what being saved means. She is also ignorant to what salvation is. The Misfit is missing the ability to empathize and bind with other people. He does not hold respect for human life. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, it says “She would of been a good woman, The Misfit said, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (430). In “‘One of My Babies’: The misfit and the grandmother”, written by Stephen C. Bandy, it says “The Misfit has already directed the execution of the Grandmother’s entire family, and it must be obvious to all including reader and the Grandmother, that she is next to die” (108). These example justifies that The Misfit does not have any regard for human life. The only people that he has are the two goons that help him murder people. The grandmother sees that The Misfit has never had anyone to take care of him. At the end of this story she tries reach out to him on a spiritual level, but he shoots her three times in the chest as soon as she touches
This is based on the grounds that “the Misfit”, an escaped criminal, is on the loose somewhere in Florida. The ironic part of this is that the grandmother is the only family member to conceive of bad things happening to the family. She bases this solely on the fact that they were traveling in the same direction as the Misfit. This negative thinking quite possibly could have led to the eventual rendezvous between the convict and the family. The following day, the family heads off to Florida.
This story takes place in the South somewhere around the 1940’s or 50’s; thereby, providing the reader with a plot rich in historical, cultural, and social aspects. Throughout the narrative, many other places are mentioned and the characters’ insights on them are explained, thus an emotional attachment to places like Tennessee and Georgia are evident. However, the importance relies on what each character’s emotions and reactions reveal about themselves and about the society at that time. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor uses symbolism and diction to contrast the good and evil nature of humans through a hypocritical, morally-driven old lady and a criminal that embraces his evil acts by placing the blame on society.
To conclude, Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is filled with irony and it is what makes the story so interesting. Without the use of these ironies the story would have been very different for the readers. Flannery O’Connor uses irony to enhance her writing and to push the readers to want to read further. She also uses this irony to explain some of her own concerns about the human condition. Verbal, dramatic, and cosmic ironies are all present in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and are used skillfully by the author to enhance the reader’s experience.
In the article, “O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Doyle W. Walls, the author writes about how judgmental the grandmother is and how her actions lead up to her family’s death. Her southern side comes out as her character is building when she calls a little boy a cute “little pickaninny.” As much as the grandmother portrays herself as a good woman and a leader, her actions contradict everything she wants people to believe. The grandmother talks to her grandchildren telling them that they should be good people by listening and showing respect. Walls writes, “The grandmother has just been lecturing her grandchildren concerning
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is hard to find”. New York, NY: Rutgers University Press, 1993. Print. 10 March. 2014
In Flannery O 'Connor 's short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the theme of good vs. evil unravels throughout the series of tragic events. The Grandmother’s epiphany introduces the idea of morality and the validity is left to the interpretation of the reader. By questioning the characteristics of right and wrong, morality and religion become subjective to personal reality and the idea of what makes individuals character good or bad becomes less defined.
Flannery O’Connor used a lot of foreshadowing throughout the story. An example is “She said the house had six white columns across the front” (409) and “They passed a large cotton field with five or six graves in the middle of it, like a small island”. These two passages foreshadows the death of the family as they had six members. It’s also strange how it took place in a town called Toombsborro. This also signifies, tomb, which leads to death. In the beginning of the story the grandmother mentioned about the misfit heading to Florida so she think it’s best to go to Tennessee. There, O’Connor foreshadows that story will somehow end up having the grandmother having an encounter with the misfit.
In this case, the Grandmothers interactions with her family are not pleasant. She drives her family crazy with the constant comments that she makes, and her self-centered attitude is made apparent within the first few lines. She is seen being selfish in her endeavors as she tries to manipulate the family into going to Tennessee instead of Florida. Her “connections” she has in Tennessee are very important to her, even more so than what’s best for her family. She tries to convince her son, Bailey, by showing him a news article about a runaway criminal who calls himself “The Misfit”. Bailey shows his disinterest and lack of respect for his mother by completely ignoring her. Her daughter-in-law also provides lack of empathy by suggesting that she just “stay home.” Her own grandchildren even tease her and are quite rude when they say, “She wouldn’t stay home to be queen for a day” (243). The children’s behavior is a representative of lack of respect and discipline, and is “forecast” of future generations. O’ Connor’s displeasure with society during the time has often been attributed to her strong Catholic background and this certain displeasure has been woven into the story through a generation