A Good Man Is Hard To Find Relationships Essay

Relationships play an important role in the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner. Character relationships have an impact on the way they behave. The theme of relationships in this story binds the story together. In short, relationships affect the way people interact with, not only their families, but also with other people.

Throughout the story, the theme of relationships is apparent. The main character in the story, the Grandmother, is an example of how relationships hold families together. She tells her son that they should go to Florida instead of Tennessee, but is the first to the car the next morning when they go to leave for vacation. The Grandmother’s relationship with her grandchildren is very odd. She expects

The lack of attention the couple gives to the children must mean that they have a good relationship with their children so they behave for them. However, if the Grandmother did not point out that what the children were doing and saying was wrong, the children would think that this behavior was acceptable. This would cause the children become used to constantly getting their way with their family, which would be a big surprise to them when their parents and grandmother are gone and they have no manner. While driving in the car, the Grandmother tells the children that they need to be more respectful towards other people. They then pass a black child on a porch and the grandmother says, “Oh look at the cute little pickaninny! Wouldn’t that make a picture?” (O’Connor 446). This is the Grandmother being a hypocrite. The Grandmother told the children to be more respectful, but then uses slang to describe a child of color which does not set a good model for the children. The Grandmother is also using her relationship with the children to influence her views of the world on them. The Grandmother is able to do this by using the slang terms and teaching the children that it’s okay to be