Southern Gothic Style in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and “Good Country People” are two short stories written by Flannery O’Connor during her short lived writing career. Despite the literary achievements of O’Connor’s works, she is often criticized for the grotesqueness of her characters and endings of her short stories and novels. Her writings have been described as “understated, orderly, unexperimental fiction, with a Southern backdrop and a Roman Catholic vision, in defiance, it would seem, of those restless innovators who preceded her and who came into prominence after her death”(Friedman 4). “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and “Good Country People” are both set in the South, and O’Connor explores the tension between the old and new South. The stories are tow

At the end of the story, the grandmother only pleads for her life and never for her son Bailey or his family. “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” (O’Connor 192).The mother never showed no remorse of her son’s death even after the other two men came back with Bailey’s shirt and then took his wife and daughter. She never pleaded for the men to stop and spare their lives. The daughter June Starr selfish characters are observed when she believes her way of living is right by stating to Red Sammy’s wife “I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks! (O’Connor 189). For a very young girl she carried an arrogant attitude that was never fixed by her parents.

Flannery O’Connor was born March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia. O’Connor was born into a devout Catholic family. Throughout her childhood, Flannery O’Connor,

The grandmother hid her cat in a basket, which she puts in the car with her on the day of the trip. The grandmother wears a floral hat and dress, because if she were to get into a car accident people would know she is “a lady”. The two kids June Star and John Wesley clearly dislike their grandmother, it is very clear because they often make remarks to suggest this. The family makes their way through Georgia and they Grandma reminisces about an old suitor she had back in the day when the family passes

The literary rebellion, known as realism, established itself in American writing as a direct response to the age of American romanticism’s sentimental and sensationalist prose. As the dominance of New England’s literary culture waned “a host of new writers appeared, among them Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, and Mark Twain, whose background and training, unlike those of the older generation they displaced, were middle-class and journalistic rather than genteel or academic” (McMichael 6). These authors moved from tales of local color fiction to realistic and truthful depictions of the complete panorama of American experience. They wrote about uniquely American subjects in a humorous and everyday

Known for her unique collection of short stories, Flannery O’Connor had a major impact on the writing industry during the 20th century. She is still to this day considered one of the most famous American authors. She very well shows that your life really impacts your writing technique, and tone of writing.

Bailey and his wife are up in the front seats of the car, and since the grandmother is in the back with the two kids, where her sphere of socialization and influence are more prominent, the kids are learning her bad habits after all through imitation and desensitization. All the settings are revolving around the grandmother, the protagonist, and they are placing her on a road to hell, paved in her own narcissism and condescending behavior.

" Her false respectability is instantly undermined, notwithstanding, when she points out the kids' an "adorable little pickaninny" remaining in the entryway of a shack they are passing. At the point when June Star watches the kid's absence of britches, the grandma clarifies that "little niggers in the nation don't have the things we do. " It is intriguing to take note of that O'Connor incorporates data in the story that makes conceivable an option clarification for the grandma's last activities in much the way of Hawthorne, one of her most loved creators. It is not until after the mishap that any piece of Bailey's outfit is depicted. By then, we discover that he had on a yellow game shirt with splendid blue parrots planned in it.

They hope for an aid but they met criminals unluckily. One is the Misfit. Bobby Lee and Hiram, the Misfit’s partners, kill the grandmother’s family members including her son, daughter-in-law and the grandchildren. The grandmother finally is killed with three shots to the chest by the Misfit. Only the pet escaped and it is put next to the grandmother’s body by the

Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia. She was an American writer. O’Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories in her life time. She was a southern writer who wrote in Southern Gothic style. In the Article, Female Gothic Fiction Carolyn E. Megan asks Dorothy Allison what Southern Gothic is to her and she responded with, “It’s a lyrical tradition. Language. Iconoclastic, outrageous as hell, leveled with humor. Yankees do it, but Southerners do it more. It’s the grotesque.”(Bailey 1) Later she was asked who one of her role models was and she stated that Flannery O’Connor was one she could relate to. One of O’Connor’s stronger works was “Good Country People” which was published in 1955.

A piece written by Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, is an example of Southern Gothic. She uses the traits of the eccentric characters’ to persuade the readers of many disturbing mysteries. This author’s, Flannery O’Connor, style in the Southern Gothic tale, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, is characterized by faith, violence, and shock.

Mary Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah,Georgia on March 25, 1925. O'Connor was born into a Catholic family. At the age of 15 she lost her father to lupus erythematosus. Even after the loss of her father, who she was very

Flannery O’Connor was born Mary Flannery O’Connor on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as the only child to Edward F. O’Connor, Jr., and Regina (Cline) O’Connor. Later in 1941, Flannery O’Connor’s father dies of lupus while O’Connor is in Milledgeville, Ga. After her father’s death, O’Connor rarely speaks of him and continues to be active in school projects such as drawing, reading, writing, and playing instraments. Further, in the summer of 1942, O’Connor graduates and enters Georgia State College for Women as a sociology and English major. Moreover, O’Connor took on the name Flannery O’Connor, dropping Mary from her signature.

The irony of the story is that it is under the directions of the Grandmother that leads the family into a run in with The Misfit, which is what she told her son she would never do. Throughout the trip we are given examples of the racism that was present during this period. The Grandmother makes multiple racist innuendos such as her observation of the “cute little pickaninny,” and her statement that “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do” (O’Conner 2). During the ride, The Grandmother convinces Bailey to take a detour down an old, dirt road which supposedly leads to an old southern plantation home she once visited. The road leads them deep into the woods where an accident is caused by The Grandmothers cat, which leaves the car upturned and the family stranded. It is then the family encounters The Misfit, whom discovers them stranded as he was passing by. He approaches the family with two young men and shortly after The Grandmother lets out a scream as she realizes him. During their encounter, the readers are given a small glimpse into the deranged mind of The Misfit. It is apparent that he has an upturned moral compass. He gains pleasure from committing crimes and the meanness that goes along with it. During his conversation with the Grandmother, he slowly has his men take members of the family out

The grandmother’s bigotry is also on display as the family rides past a black youth standing near his modest home. Her reaction to seeing him is like walking past an adorable dog; “Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!” (12). When her granddaughter June Starr comments on the boy’s lack of clothing, the grandmother explains that “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do” (12). As the grandmother emits racism through her comments, she is also inserting such notion into her grandchildren’s minds. Nor Bailey or his wife says anything, so it can be suggested that they are used to such comments and may hold the same views as well. The grandmother does not see a reason to be empathetic; the boy waves and she does return the gesture. Instead she romanticizes the boy’s plight as a missed opportunity, suggesting that “If [she] could paint, [she’d] paint that picture” (12).