An Analysis Of Flannery O ' Connor 's A Good Man

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.

In today’s society, several individuals have come across a point where they were on the verge of the death. Murder is constantly being thrown across headlines, news reports, and social media throughout America. It has become a disastrous factor throughout many individual’ lives. Viewing families suffer from their lost loved ones, as well as the murder of innocent lives have been tremendously relevant in today’s society. What many individuals fail to understand, is what actually happens during their last seconds on earth. Throughout the short story, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” O’Connor uses a Grandmother to convey to the readers the actually value of goodness an individual tends to gain when confronted with death. Just as revealed in the short story, violence frequently triggers an individual’s actions when presented with death. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” Flannery O’Connor uses theme, conflict, and religion in order to portray the false acts of goodness projected by the grandmother.

     In the short story, 'A Good Man is Hard to Find', the main character is the grandmother. Flannery O'Connor, the author, lets the reader find out who the grandmother is by her conversations and reactions to the other characters in the story. The grandmother is the most important character in the story because she has a main role in the stories principal action. This little old lady is the protagonist in this piece. We learn more about her from her direct conversation with the son, Bailey, her grandchildren, June Star and John Wesley, and the Misfit killer. Through these conversations, we know that she is a lady raised from a traditional background. In the story, her attitude changes

“A Good Man is hard to find,” a short story written by Flannery O’ Connor, is one of the most interesting stories I’ve ever come across to in my life. Born as an only child into a Catholic family, O’ Conner is one of the most “greatest fiction writers and one of the strongest apologists for Roman Catholicism in the twentieth century (New Georgia Encyclopedia).” She was a very strong believer in her faith and she used her stories as a tool to send the reader a message that were most likely ignored and almost never uttered out loud. The story revolves around a grandmother who believes to be high and mighty around others. This results in her downfall later on.

The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor, is about nuclear family in the 50’s who decided to go to East Tennessee for vacation instead of Florida. The grandmother said that the way Tennessee opposes the Misfit, a criminal who escaped from jail, was one of the main reasons for her choice. On the way, the grandmother suggests going to an old mansion she once visited by deceiving the kids to force Bailey to seek out the place but the grandmother made a mistake with the location. Embarrassed, the grandmother jerks her feet and Pitty Sing, the cat, escapes the basket and surprises Bailey, who wrecks the car. Later, the family meets the Misfit and his partners and the Misfit kills them all after the

Brutality, humor, religion, and violence are a few themes portrayed throughout many of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. In many of her short stories, O’Connor exposes the dark side of human nature and implements violent and brutal elements in order to emphasize her religious viewpoints. In the short stores “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Revelation”, O’Connor explicitly depicts this violence to highlight the presence and action of holy grace that is given to a protagonist who exudes hypocritical qualities.

When reading “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” my foremost impression is that it’s a very suspenseful story. The writing has a sort of still and detached feeling to it that makes the reader feel like an outsider. While character thoughts are occasionally stated, motivations aren’t openly shown and it’s hard to find much character development unless careful examination is made. Being interested in psychology, I found these nuances interesting. Even so, I initially didn’t find the characters likable. The grandmother, for instance, is very self-centered. When she mentions that there’s a murderer running loose in the family’s designated vacation area, she doesn’t do so out of concern. Rather, she just wants to go somewhere else and is “seizing at every chance to change [her son’s] mind.” When her family begins getting killed, she never begs for their lives, but is preoccupied with pleading for her own, telling the Misfit that he “ought not to shoot a lady” (348).

The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is famous for its use of unexpected violence. An unnamed grandmother

Flannery O’Connor was a devout catholic whose writing was a reflection of the violence in the temporal world. O’Connor suffered with lupus which had a grave impact on her life, but that didn’t stop her from publishing many stories that achieved awards. O’Connor’s stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People” are two examples of the talented woman’s works that gained popularity over the years. Through analyzing these short stories, one could insinuate that there are many commonalities between the setting, characters, and themes of these stories.

According to Earl Nightingale, “When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself.” This is a common thing that many people do throughout their lifetime. People might judge others to feel secure or to create an identity for themselves. Judging others by their appearance or by the things they own should not be a reason to dislike them. While it may be a common thing to do since we are all humans, it does come with some consequences. In Flannery O 'Connor 's short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People”, readers realize that the main characters tend to be judgmental about the people around them.

In my analysis of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, I will examine the different elements of this piece of literature and break the subject down into its component parts. I also plan to provide evident that O’Connor uses religion as the theme for her short story using several examples of foreshadowing and symbolic throughout her story. After reading the story more than once, I notice some interesting quotes that will back-up my claims that O’Connor’s story is about something that must do with spiritual and religion.

Flannery O 'Connor 's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is certainly a surprising work of literature. With this story having a not so happy ending, it goes against all of the conventional ideas on what a typical storybook ending should be. Another unusual thing about "A Good Man is Hard to Find is the use of the term "good." It is thrown around excessively through the entire tale by the grandmother and even the Misfit seems to use this word as well. The interesting concept through the characters using this word is that they seem to be misusing it in a sense. The Grandmother and The misfit seem to classify the word "good" with things that are actually bad. With the terms "good" and "bad" clashing together in one category, it goes against the social norms that society has created, making it a truly unique short story.

The main character, the grandmother, gives an insight of the distraught tension within the family early on, exemplifying the existing relationships between family members. She convinces her son and his family to go on vacation with her to visit relatives, but ends up suffering terribly due to her poor judgment and beliefs, finally being forced to face the proper meaning of something bad. The grandmother portrays herself to be a good person by doing this, but is so much more evil than her facade in reality. In the story, O’Conner says, “In case of an accident, anyone

In both his works of fiction, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and “Greenleaf”, Flannery O'Conner paints a rather grim picture. The protagonists in both the short stories share several common traits. In the story, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, the Grandmother, who remains unnamed throughout, is a vile woman, who is also selfish and a complete hypocrite. Yet, she continues to judge other people for what she perceives to be their shortcomings. She is a woman who has seen hardships, and just the fact that she got through them, makes her feel morally superior to others. She feels she is a 'lady' which makes her better than the rest. She lacks the

She made up a story about the house with “a secret panel” in order to make the children curious because she knew that only the children were able to persuade her son to drive there. Her plan seemed to be successful, yet she suddenly figured out that the house was not in Florida, but in Tennessee. Consequently, the old “lady” who once again did what could not be considered kind and moral by hiding the truth from other people in the car. However, the event that thoroughly broke her moral code was when the family met the Misfit. Instead of begging the Misfit not to harm the children and their parents, she was only concerned about herself by asking the Misfit whether he killed a lady.