Analysis Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the story of a family’s vacation tragically ended by The Misfit and his gang. On the way to their vacation spot in Florida, the Grandmother remembers a plantation in Georgia she used to visit when she was a young lady and desperately wants to see it. She tells her son, Bailey, what road it is on and everyone is excited to see it. After a while, the grandmother realizes that she was wrong about where the plantation was and becomes so upset at herself that she knocks things over in the car which causes a car accident. A passing car stops to help the family but the Grandmother realizes that one of the men is a murderer, nicknamed, The Misfit. While one of

These are elements of random foreshadowing that helped the reader understand why the grandmother believed so strongly that a good man is hard to find. This would be a prelude to the horrific events that would later unfold when the grandmother encounters the misfit who by all intense purposes was not believed to be a good man.

In the O'Connor story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," Southern Gothic literature is portrayed. Southern Gothic literature paints a picture of what life was like in the "Old South" and also includes bizarre turns of events and outlandish characters. The grandmother, is the protagonist, and the main character of O'Connor's story, about a family that travel on a vacation together and lose their lives by "The Misfit," a random man on the side of the road. The grandmother, who remains unnamed for the duration of the story, demonstrates a "her way or the highway" type of personality. The family is going on vacation to Florida, but she has relatives she wants to visit in Tennessee. So, instead of just asking her son, Bailey, if they could go to Tennessee instead, she cleverly attempts to trick him by saying, "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people" (O'Connor). She then, continues her devious plot, by referring to the safety of Bailey's children, when she states, "I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did" (O'Connor). That didn't go as planned, so she tries again, implying that it has nothing to do with her, but the kids have already been to Florida. Throughout the story, Bailey's mother continues the same type of tactics to get her way. For example, she mentions that, at the old house in Tennessee, "There was a secret panel in this house," she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, "and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found . . ." (O'Connor).

In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, it starts out by having the family go on a vacation to Tennessee and not to Florida because there is a Misfit on the loose. On their way, the family passes different landmarks including a cotton field and a restaurant. The Grandmother realizes that there was a plantation she once visited nearby. On their way to the house, she realizes that the house is not actually where she says it was and she jerks herself making the cat jump in front of the drivers face making him crash the car. A passing car comes and the Grandmother points out it’s the Misfit with his two men. The Misfit says, “you shouldn’t have said who I was, you should have kept it a secret” (O’ Connor 1241). This forces the Misfit to send his men to go kill John Wesley and Bailey in the woods. The grandmother then looks to the Misfit and asks him to pray. The Grandmother then says that “you are like one of my own children” (O’ Connor 1245) and after that the Misfit shoots and kills the Grandmother. He wishes that it didn’t have to end that way because he is proclaiming he is not a bad man, he didn’t find pleasure out of it.

The setting of the story is in 1953, when times were supposed good. The Grandmother expresses several times that now-a-days it is very hard to find a good man even though a good man has been in front of her this entire time. Nester states in her essay; “But scarcity is just part of the problem. Even when goodness is within proximity, it is neglected. Thus, the voice insists that actions be speaking genuine goodness

During the family trip in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” to Georgia, the grandmother attempts to exude a lady-like facade. The grandmother wears “white cotton gloves...a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets … a

When one first begins to read A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, one is assailed by the humorous petty grievances of a mother living under her son’s roof disrespected by her grandchildren and lonely in a house filled with people, clutching at memories of days long passed similar to the Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie. As the story unfolds one begins to see the indifference of Bailey toward his family in general and especially his mother—rightly so, as the ‘old lady’ nagged her son and his family to the point of hilarity and rib-hurtin’ laughter had the cat stayed in the bag and the car did not leave the road. This interesting story of a mentally abused woman slighted by her family, who makes the fatal error

In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor introduces a family whose lives ironically turn up side down while on a trip to Florida. For instance, before leaving on the trip, the grandmother (who wants to go to Tennessee in stead of Florida) tells her son, Bailey, about the newspaper article. Thus, the article states that a prisoner escapes to Florida and calls himself the misfit. However, her son basically ignores her and they end up taking the trip to Florida regardless of the warning. Also, the grandmother takes her cat, Pitty Sing, along on the trip in order to prevent any mishaps by leaving her behind. In addition, the grandmother wears a pin so that if she dies in an accident anyone who finds her, knows that she is a woman. Moreover, she points out several different sights on her way to Florida. Most significantly, she says, “Look at

In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the unprecedented ending was marked by the dramatic last words of the grandmother: “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own babies.” This revelation furthers the contrast between the families of both the grandmother and the Misfit, while enforcing the similarities between the grandmother and the Misfit. Throughout the story, the author skillfully adds hints to describe the relationship that the grandmother has with her son and her grandchildren.

Using the word “good” for the qualities that she believe should be in people, the grandmother sets a proper standard. She tells Red Sammy that he is “…a good man” (O’Connor 409). Red Sammy and the grandmother begin to talk about how times have changed. He and the grandmother discuss when times were better. Red Sammy conveys the title of the story by commenting on how it isn’t easy to trust people “A good man is hard to find. Everything is terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.” (O’Connor 409). The grandmother continues by saying that Europe was to blame.

After reading “A Good Man Is Hard To Find“ the irony of the story is very clear. The first sentence in this short story is “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.” In fact, the grandmother goes on to try to persuade her son Bailey and is wife not to take their trip to Florida but Tennessee instead. The grandmother informs her family about the fellow, the misfit, and all the horrible things he says he has done to people. “Just you read it I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did.” Ironically, that is exactly what she does when she convinces her son Bailey to take the family down a deserted road to see a house with secret panels. The grandma’s sudden recollection

The second theme exhibited by the grandmother is her class and racial prejudice, as most characters in southern gothic stories do. The grandmother exudes a sense of self-righteousness that she explains is imbedded in her because she came from a good family. Throughout “A Good Man is Hard to Find” descriptions of the south come up often. Most of the images are portrayed when the grandmother is reminiscing about “In my time” and on the “plantation” (114). Her insistent attitude and obsession about visiting the plantation shows the grandmother truly enjoyed that time period and implies she had no problem with the racial segregation in that era. She remembers back to when she was a young girl and Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden would bring her watermelon. “but she never got the watermelon”, “ because a nigger boy ate it when he saw the initials E.A.T.!” (115). It is clear the grandmother feels it is appropriate to use the N word when referring to African Americans, even years after slavery era. As the grandmother glamorizes Negroes and life on the plantation, it is clear she admired the ways of the Old South, a true characteristics of Southern Gothic writing. Her stereotypical character projects a prejudice that leaves the audience uncomfortable throughout the story.

Carl yet cruelly dismisses Gitano’s request to stay in the barn helping out with the petty chores. “I don’t need an old man. This isn’t a big ranch. I can’t afford food and doctor bills for an old man.” (pg. 44) Carl believes that an old man will not only be an insignificant helping hand, but also will cause much trouble. Later, he insults Gitano by comparing Gitano to an old horse, Easter. “Old things ought to be put out of their misery.” (pg. 46) Carl, on the surface, comments on Easter but implicitly directs his words towards Gitano. Then he mocks Gitano by saying, “If ham and eggs grew on a side-hill I’d turn you out to pasture too.” (pg. 47) In the same manner as Gitano, Grandfather is also disapproved by Carl for his old age. Carl is scornful of grandfather’s visit in the town of Salinas, because he feels all grandfather ever does is just talk. “ ‘It’s just that he talks,’ Carl said lamely. ‘Just talks.’ ” (pg. 80) Grandfather, who had dedicated his whole life on westering, has lost all meanings of life ever since westering came to a halt.

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor subverts the grandmother's definition of “good” to show the reader that her perception of herself as a “lady” merely leads to stubbornness and arrogance. The grandmother’s eagerness to show her superiority through her appearances and past adventures eventually leads to the Misfit murdering her and her family. Automatically, the reader assumes that the Misfit is the main antagonist, causing many disturbances throughout the story. Even though he has committed multiple crimes, he is the one still alive at the end, challenging the idea that good things only happen to good people. Towards the end, the grandmother has an epiphany that makes her realize she is not that better than the people she has looked down upon her whole life. In this text, O’Connor dismantles the superficial characteristics of what “good” men or women are actually like.

    In the story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” a Grandmother, her son, Bailey, and his wife, and their children are all planning to take some sort of trip. Although there’s a disagreement about where they should go for the trip. Bailey wants to take all of them down to Florida, but the Grandmother doesn’t want to go down there for one particular reason. There’s a dangerous criminal named The Misfit on the loose, and that he’s heading down to Florida. Everyone brushes off the Grandmother’s claim about the criminal and think nothing of it. The next morning, they’re on the road heading for Florida. Everyone piles into the car, excited for the trip, including the Grandmother who cautious about going (She also secretly