Flannery O'Conner and the use of grotesque character in 'Good country people' and 'a good man is hard to find'

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

Flannery O’Connor uses a number of literary devices throughout her writings. Digging deeper into the context of the story helps readers develop meaningful connections. Symbolism is a reoccurring device used by O’Connor to make her stories have a deeper meaning. When Tom T. Shiftlet, one of the main characters is introduced, he is described as a figure forming a crooked cross against the sky, representing that Shiftlet is not a godly man, he is a bit ‘crooked’ and is not a spiritual man (Hendin, 1970). Later in the story Shiftlet asks

Flannery O' Connor, a native of Georgia was one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century. As a strict Catholic, O' Connor often displayed a sense of spiritual corruption within the characters in most of her stories. One of O' Connor's famous stories, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," reveals the image of spiritual deficiency inherent in the characters which foreshadowed a bloody end.

“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

When an author writes a story, he or she will generally use different writing techniques to create the piece. These techniques have the ability to turn a story into something truly unique, as they allow the story to unfold in it’s own way. In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, author Flannery O’Connor used the techniques of symbolism and foreshadowing throughout the entire piece to create a deeply captivating story, as so many of the details mentioned in the beginning of the story are glimpses of the end.

In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," Flannery O'Connor represents her style of writing very accurately. She includes her "themes and methods - comedy, violence, theological concern - and thus makes them quickly and unmistakably available" (Asals 177). In the beginning of the story O'Connor represents the theme of comedy by describing the typical grandmother. Then O'Connor moves on to include the violent aspect by bringing the Misfit into the story. At the end of the story the theme changes to theological concern as the attention is directed towards the grandmother's witnessing. As the themes change throughout the story, the reader's perception of the grandmother also changes.

The events happening in the story can really happen, and this allows open-minded readers to put themselves in the story line and feel what O’Connor makes the characters feel. A great example of creating fear and sympathy in the audience is when O’Connor writes, “There were two more pistol reports and the grandmother raised her head like a parched old turkey hen crying for water and called, ‘Bailey Boy, Bailey Boy!’ as if her heart would break” (O’Connor 454). In this line, readers feel hearts almost break in sympathy for the grandmother as if they have lost their own son, but soon fear creeps up because everyone has been murdered except the grandmother, leaving her alone with evil. Through characterization, O’Connor creates an emotional and relatable connection between the story and the readers, which is a great element that defines good writers from great writers. Reading is just a way for people to escape the everyday redundancies of life, even if it is met with fear and sympathy.

Flannery O’Connor was an American author who often wrote about characters who face violent situations. These situations force the characters into a moment of crisis that awakens or alters their fate. Her short stories reflect her Roman Catholic faith and frequently discuss questions of morality and ethics. O’Connor’s Catholic upbringing influenced most of her short stories, often accumulating criticism because of her harsh portrayal of religion. O’Connor incorporates the experience of a moment of grace in her short stories to contribute to the meaning of her works and to represent her faith.

Flannery O´Connor is consider as one most influence Christian American writers of the XX century and author of the story revelator story “The Enduring Chill” as part of the book “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” Flannery O´Connor is known overall for being a Roman Catholic writer, who in her stories explores the complexity of morality and ethics through a Christian worldview. A faithful example of this work wrote a year before of his death is “The Enduring Chill,” a story developed in a Farm in the time of Slavery on The United States (Andretta). This Southern Gothic style story stablishes its plot mainly in the spiritual and corporal affection of the twenty-five years old prideful protagonist and Asbury Fox and the conflict with his sixteen years old mother. The story positions Asbury as the victim a villain of the story, that surrounded of pain looks for significant moment in his miserable life. However, in an unexpected final at the “deathbed” of Asbury, he ended up achieving the redemption by the grace of God through the Holy Ghost.

The short story "Greenleaf" shows us some of the central themes of Flannery O'Connor's literary work.

Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and

Flannery O’Conner, a Gothic literature writer, has written several short stories throughout her life. Among these stories, two of them being A Good Man is Hard to Find and Good Country People, she has included some of the most fleshed out and grotesque characters I have ever read. O’Conner brings her characters to life throughout her writing in near flawless and subtle detail with ironic humor. For example, O’Conner makes skillful use of ironic names for her characters. The titles and names such as grandmother, the misfit, Joy/Hulga, and the bible salesman are used ironically. These subtle characterizations help guide the reader to the final, and often times ironic, conclusions all her characters deserve.

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.

To the uninitiated, the writing of Flannery O'Connor can seem at once cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent. Her short stories routinely end in horrendous, freak fatalities or, at the very least, a character's emotional devastation. Working his way through "Greenleaf," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," or "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the new reader feels an existential hollowness reminiscent of Camus' The Stranger; O'Connor's imagination appears a barren, godless plane of meaninglessness, punctuated by pockets of random, mindless cruelty.

In each of Flannery O’Connor’s stories there is a very different perspectives in the stories also in the different time periods. Each of these women bring a very different look on life. This is not always a good thing. We see that some of these women only want to dwell in the past, to never move forward, always hoping to move backwards instead. They are still living in the past because the present and the future seem scary. O’Connor introduces Mrs. Hopewell, the Grandmother, and Julian’s Mother who are main characters in her stories. Each of these women believe in something that does not exist anymore. O’Connor does not allow us the privilege of knowing their first name or even much about these ladies. Each of these women show people their southern take on the world which conveys an extremely patronizing attitude on life. Their world is changing and if they wanted to they could have grabbed ahold of it. They have a chance to explore these new changes although they seem unwilling. The O’Connor’s stories we see Mrs. Hopewell as a petty and condescending woman , the Grandmother as a