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A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

690 Words3 Pages

Elements of Southern Gothic Literature has multiple impacts on the endings of stories. Flannery O’Connor used Southern Gothic Literature in her short stories such as “Good Country People”, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”. Flannery O’Connor uses spinsters, horifing endings, and mental insibility with one or more characters in the three stories previously mentioned. Flannery O’Connor used Souther Gothic Literature in many of her short stories for example, in “Good Country Poeple” O’Connor used spinsters, horrifying endings, and mental insibility. Hulga is a spinster in the story. She was single and in her early-thirties. Later in the story we learn Manley Pointer is not the “good” country person Hulgas originally thought. Manley Pointer and Hulga go to the loaft inside a barn close by. While inside the barn Maley Pointer asked Hulga to show him how to …show more content…

Lucynell was born with a mental insibility. She was in her thirtys and still single. Lucynell was mentally like a child. She was described as hunched over sitting in her chair. Mr. Shiftlet taught Lucynell how to say the word bird. After Lucynell’s mother seen the improvement in her daughters life she insisted on Mr. Shiftlet marrying her daughter. The horrifying ending of the short story was when Mr. Shiftlet agreed to marrying Lucynell and then left her in a dinner helpless. The horror behind Mr. Shiftlet leaving Lucynell in the dinner is due to her not being able to tell them her name, where she lives, or who her mother is. Lucynell is all alone. Mr. Shiftlet took the car and the money Lucynell’s mother provided him with for their first weekend married. Mr. Shiftlet left Lucynell with nothing. To sum it up O’Connor used spinsters, horrific endings, and mental instibility in “The Life You Save May Be Your

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How to Save a Life The Fate of Mr. Shiftlet & the Crater Women Often, a story’s title tells a much bigger story than it initially puts on. The title of Flannery O’Connor’s short story, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, creates an entire theme for the story. The title is used within the story, when Mr. Shiftlet passes a road sign stating the exact words.

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In the story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor, there is no doubt the reader should consider the grandmother a villain. Throughout the story, it is easy to assume the grandmother would eventually lead the family to some sort of downfall. The grandmother has many traits that make her a villain, and through her judgemental nature, selfish acts, and inability to stop talking, she leads her family and herself to their death. Throughout the story it is obvious that the grandmother is very judgemental of people and seems to consider herself as better than everyone.

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In Flannery O’ Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” she presents to her readers a grandmother that gets herself and her family into trouble with a convict, known as The Misfit, while heading to Florida. The grandmother, old and concerned, convincing her son from going to Florida where The Misfit had escaped from. The grandkids aren’t looking forward to the trip with their grandmother. The grandmother hides her cat, Pitty Sing, in a basket so she can take it on the trip. While driving through Georgia, the family stops at a little restaurant called the Tower, owned by Red Sammy Butts.

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Inquisition with Faith One of the many bible quotes states “I will never doubt that god has gotten me through every hard moment in my life.” In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the author in fact wrestles with her faith while wrestling this idea. O'Connor's questioning of faith occurs in this short story through the use of distortion, symbolism, and characterization. O’Connors constant action of wrestling her own faith is strongly shown through the constant use of distortion.

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Manley Pointer initially presents himself as a devout Christian who wants to save souls by selling Bibles door-to-door. He manages to charm Joy into going on a walk with him where he reveals his true intentions - seducing her for his own pleasure while stealing her prosthetic leg as a trophy. Joy/Hulga's world view contrasts sharply with her mother's ideas of goodness and kindness towards others because she doesn't believe in God or any higher power that would dictate morality. She sees the world as a bleak, meaningless place where nothing has any inherent value or purpose.

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In Flannery O'Connor's “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” It begins with a woman named Mrs.Crater along with her thirty year old deaf daughter Lucynell. The two women watch as a man named Tom Shiftlet approaches their porch and comments on the sunset. At first, the old woman doesn’t like him and speaks of the man harshly calling him a “tramp” due to him having one arm. Tom notices the women have a car as a result comments on it. Mrs Crater tells Tom that the car hasn't run in over fifteen years as to when her husband passed away.

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The story starts with a one armed man by the name of Mr. Shiftlet arrives at the farm belonging to Lucynell Crater and her deaf daughter, also named Lucynell. Mrs. Crater offers food and shelter in exchange for him to work around the farm. When Mrs. Crater sees how helpful he is, especially with Lucynell. Mrs. Crater begins to scheme for him to marry her daughter. The literary criticism states, “In the short story, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, the book illustrates the spiritual struggles between good and evil that we as humans face”(Kibin, 2023).

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The story is about a man, named Tom Shiftlet, who comes across a farm where an elderly women, Mrs. Crater, and her deaf 30-year old daughter, Lucynell live. Tom Shiftlet is 28 years old and is in dire need of food and a place to stay. He happens to have only one of his arms. During the course of Mrs. Crater’s and Tom’s conversation she offers to let him work around farm in exchange for food and shelter. Mrs. Crater desperately wants Shiftlet to take her daughter’s hand in marriage.

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Louisa Clark is a very original girl living just about of an ordinary life at twenty-six-years-old. She has a steady boyfriend, and a close family which she supports. She takes a job caring for Will Traynor, who is quadriplegic after an accident with a motorcycle. Will Traynor is an active, young, successful, and wealthy man. Will’s mother, Camilla hires Louisa to care for his needs, and to help him not commit suicide, again.

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The child can see right through Mr. Shiftlet’s act. He says that their mothers are flea bags and pole cats, and jumps right out of the passenger side door. To conclude the story, Mr. Shiftlet’s last attempt at redeeming his bad habits and evil ways, failed to a young boy who was not fooled by his deceiving actions and

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Meanwhile the senior lady, Lucynell being in a need for a man to take care of the house offers Mr. Shiftlet to become a hireling housekeeper, in compensation for a shelter to cover his head and meals, which offer he accepts, since he had nowhere to stay or didn’t have any money with him. He, as a tramp or better said as a hobo, investigates the whole yard and his eye catches a fancy aged car of type Ford. Since has never had one in his life, he is astonished and asks if the ladies could drive. The old lady replies: “That car ain’t run in fifteen year” “the day my husband died, it quit

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