A Good Man Is Hard To Find Violence Essay

551 Words3 Pages

At the end of “A Good Man is Hard To Find” the Misfit claims the old lady would have been a good woman if there had been someone to shoot her every day of her life. In the time that you have, write an essay arguing the role of violence in fiction. Do you agree or disagree with O’Connor’s sentiments that violence in fiction should always serve instructive purposes and not being an end in itself? What about Percy’s arguments in his essay, “There Will Be Blood…” Use examples from both the essay and O’Connor’s short story to support your argument. I agree with O’Connor. Violence should never be there just for the sake of violence. It should always have a purpose, and not just be an end to something. O’Connor uses her own advice in the short …show more content…

She decides to not be so direct and gory with her use of violence but instead uses it offstage in a classier sense. She lets the reader imagine how the family is killed in the forest. This draws in the reader and adds a new level of depth that seeing violence doesn't have. In the article “There Will Be Blood” in the second paragraph Percy writes the “violence is told not shown”. When I read this with the thoughts of “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” going through my head I realize how important this statement truly is. There is no need to dull down a story to get blood points, this isn’t a guts and gore contest at you local bar on halloween, this is literature. When you describe the woods behind the accident with the words “Behind them the line of woods gaped like a dark open mouth.” this shows that something bad is going to happen their. It is a very poetic line the use of imagery, the simile,and the foreshadowing, it is astounding. When “The Misfit” says “the old lady would have been a good woman if there had been someone to shoot her every minute of her life.” he is saying that she changed immensely once she realized she was going to die. She became this perfect christian lady who had all the right answers because she was of good