A Good Man Is Hard To Find Essay

The roles and motives of men and women in society are often extremely difficult to define, however in her book of short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor uses intricate symbolism and captivating characters to make these distinctions. Written in the early 1950’s these short stories use characters that are rather out of the ordinary, yet all of them are easy to conjure in the mind, and for that reason they seem quite real. O’Connor uses these odd characters to communicate independence and helplessness and further portray power dynamics between men and women in greater society. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find,” "The Life You Save May be Your Own,” and "Good Country People,” she uses characters that are seemingly out of the

She has made a decision based off her own desires, and it has put her as well as her family in a predicament. After making this wrong decision, the grandmother has absolutely no power. It is also here that the grandmother and her family come in contact with the Misfit. The Misfit is an escaped murderer who the family had heard about being on the loose prior to leaving on their trip. Although he is accompanied by two other men, the Misfit is a man who acts on his own independent values; we see this very clearly in his name. A misfit is defined in the dictionary someone who whose behavior sets them apart from others in an obvious way. He is clearly a man who does not fit in, as he is a criminal. This idea of setting yourself apart from others and being a strong independent person is one commonly attributed to masculinity. The Misfit and his accomplices arrive on the scene of the crash and take the children and parents into the woods, leaving the grandmother alone with the Misfit. The narrator shows the grandmother’s helplessness on page 20, stating “Alone with the Misfit, the grandmother had lost her voice”. To have no voice in this situation symbolizes a lack of