Postmodernism In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

In A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor writes of an imperfect family, who is directed on a quest, by an unreliable grandmother, that ultimately ends in their death. The family sets out from Atlanta on a trip to Florida, when they make an unplanned stop in rural Georgia. The grandmother asks them to stop on the side of a road to see a plantation she knew of when she was young; unfortunately, that plantation is in Tennessee and not in Georgia. Then the family has an car accident and is approached by the Misfit, a serial killer, who then kills them all. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Connor includes elements of postmodernism, a theme of violence, and, most importantly, a recognition of grace in evil. Literature that is classified as postmodern often includes unreliable narrators or characters, skewed views of what is considered good and bad, dark humor, and a lack of direction.

Paul is reflected at the very end when the Misfit says “Shut up Bobby Lee, there’s no real pleasure in life” (O’Connor 153). The Misfit recognizes the evil that he has done, and that no good comes from it; there is still a chance for him to rectify his actions.
The most important element in this story is the recognition of grace in the face of evil. The grandmother was unreliable and had skewed values but O’Connor writes of her, too, in a moment of grace. All of her family members have been killed by the Misfit and his henchmen when the grandmother tries to talk the Misfit out of killing her. She begins to pray “Jesus..Jesus” a few times and then looks at the Misfit for who he truly is. The Misfit talks of how he wishes he saw Jesus raise the dead, and that if he “had of been there I would of known and I wouldn't be like I am now” (O’Connor