ipl-logo

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Theme

2105 Words9 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbols and foreshaddowing in a good man is hard to find

The story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is about a dysfunctional family taking a road trip to Florida while a notorious criminal, the Misfit, is on the loose. In this story, O'Connor uses their southern gothic style to create multiple themes that can leave room for self-interpretation. The grandmother, the unnamed protagonist, does not think they should go on vacation to Florida when the Misfit is rumored to be heading there. However, the family decides to go regardless. The grandmother is the first in the car with her precious cat, "Pitty Sing," secretly stowed away. In the car is the grandmother's son, Bailey, his wife, baby, and two children, June Star and John Wesley. Along the way, the family stops for lunch at a roadside …show more content…

Like other stories, O'Connor's themes are continuously evident but not formulaic, and they vary considerably based on situation and character (Ruppersburg). As the story unfolds, we notice the grandmother's egocentric behavior, family choices, and spiritual grace begin to steer the entire family to face death, revealing that actions have consequences. The grandmother's egocentric behavior is the driving factor behind her careless choices and worthiness to be saved. The choices the grandmother and Bailey made created a rippling domino effect that resulted in the entire family's death, besides "Pitty Sing." This would have been avoided if any one of these choices had not been made. If the grandmother had not brought "Pitty Sing," Bailey would have never crashed the car that caused them to encounter the Misfit. If the grandmother had not made up a fake story about the plantation to seek attention, June Star and James Wesley would have begged their father to find the silver. The list of consequences resulting from the choices made in the story goes on. The grandmother's lack of spiritual awareness and disguise as a practitioner of Jesus makes her not deserving to receive grace. However, this is later overturned as she is saved by the grace of God. As a practicing Christian and supporter of salvation, O'Connor believed everyone should be saved regardless of who they are, despite facing self-inflicting

Show More
Related
467 Words | 2 Pages

But Eliza insists that they go because she wants them to be safe and she can care for her mother by herself. So Mattie and her grandfather get in a wagon with another man who is going to a different town to be safe from the fever. But when they arrive at the gates of the new town grandfather starts coughing really bad and the guards at the gate will not let the enter because he might have the fever. So the man driving kicks Mattie and her Grandfather out of the wagon and they go into town. So Mattie and her grandfather start walking and soon they find a big tree to rest at.

Read More
1904 Words | 8 Pages

O’Connor successfully conveys humanity through realistic and uncomfortably relatable or recognizable characters. She illustrates the human ability to be redeemable, but amplifies it with characters who require the grace of God to get them there. It is almost a challenge to her readers to be better people. O’Connor grew up in the rural south, seeing discrimination with her own eyes, but was still able to hope that humans could change for good. It’s a good idea to read her works because they include messages like the one in this, and could help people see the world more clearly, in a less selfish way.

Read More
570 Words | 3 Pages

O’Conner’s Not So Hard to Find Foreshadowing In Flannery O’Conner’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” O’Conner describes a tragic family vacation. Upon first reading, the story seems to be about a family consisting of a grandmother, her son (Bailey), his wife, two children: John Westley and June Star, a baby boy, and a cat named Pitty Sing traveling to Florida despite grandmother’s concerns of an escaped convict believed to be in the area. Upon deeper reading of the story, readers experience O’Conner’s skillful use of foreshadowing to reveal subtle nuances to the family’s tragic demise. The three of the most obvious examples are The Misfit’s news article, the grandmother’s choice of traveling attire, and a stowaway cat. O’Conner’s first use of foreshadowing is the discovery of a news article about The Misfit.

Read More
1552 Words | 7 Pages

He is even more religious than the grandmother who prays and leans on God in the end of her life. "I was a gospel singer for a while," The Misfit said. "I been most everything. Been in the arm service both land and sea, at home and abroad, been twice married, been an undertaker, been with the railroads, plowed Mother Earth, been in a tornado, seen a man burnt alive oncet.” ( O’Connor 24) I am not sure if the grandmother god in the end or was just manipulating her way, to not die and only care for herself.

Read More
486 Words | 2 Pages

This displays that O’Connor wrestling her faith using distortion of a singer who sings praising words to inspire people in becoming of a murderer. Furthermore, distortion shows O'Connor's struggle with faith when a business couple questions their trust in

Read More
1233 Words | 5 Pages

Another recurring theme in O'Connor's stories is narcissism or arrogance, which is demonstrated through her characters and their personalities. This is shown through the grotesque type of character that is simply only concerned with themselves and believes that they are above everyone else. O’Connor however incorporated this idea of narcissism into Christianity. “Christianity is necessary for psychological health: the nonbeliever is necessarily narcissistic”(Scheurich and Mullen 548) This implies that Christianity is better and the ideal in her

Read More
1142 Words | 5 Pages

Her final act towards the Misfit was not out of charity, but in attempt to save herself. Set in the South in the 1950s, the grandmother dutily satisfied the stereotypes that blossomed within her generation. She speaks of the older days, when children were more respectful, and good men were easier to find. However, she never expresses what defines a good man, which suggests her unsteady moral foundation. The grandmother also explicitly articulates the racism that was unfortunately common in the South, ironically prevalent in the religious and upper middle class circles like the ones she belonged to.

Read More
1371 Words | 6 Pages

In the 1953 short story titled “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, readers are given a glimpse of what the end of the story may look like through use of foreshadowing, symbolism, and other literary techniques. Although the story looks to be an innocent story of a family who travels to Florida for vacation at the start of it, readers soon find out that the story has a darker twist to it. This family trip turns violent and this gruesome ending can easily represent the violence taking place in America during the time this story was written by O’Connor and even today. The short story starts off with a family of six- parents, a grandmother, and three children-

Read More
1256 Words | 6 Pages

Flannery O’ Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” illuminates moments of desire and dismay in a character’s life. Her use of point of view, symbolism, and theme expresses O’Conner’s interest in the way traditions of Christianity have played out in the lives of southern U.S. everyday people. Portraying a self-satisfied grandmother shocked into spiritual wakefulness by a murderer called The Misfit whom kills her family before killing the grandmother herself. This analyst of the short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, will depict the option that O’Connor’s use of point of view, theme, and symbolism focusses on Christianity being infused with both good and evil. The grandmother’s spiritual know-how is as important to this short story

Read More
1583 Words | 7 Pages

‘I don’t want no hep,’ he said ‘I’m doing all right by myself’”(O’Connor 150). This quote is a perfect example of how The Grandmother believed in her God to save her from her situation. O’Connor’s catholic faith shows in quotes like the previous one. O’Connor puts her faith in words and writes stories about it.

Read More
915 Words | 4 Pages

The short story “A Good Man Is Hard To find” by Flannery O’Conner, was published in 1955. It was written in third person limited point of view. The story takes place in the 1940s after world two, family takes a road trip traveling to Florida, but their journey takes an unsuspecting turn. O’Conner uses foreshadowing, verbal and situational irony and symbolism that illustrates the theme of the effect of the selfishness of the grandmother upon the family. The first character introduced in the story is the protagonist, the unnamed grandmother.

Read More
468 Words | 2 Pages

In the three Flannery O’Connor stories we read there is a theme that is present of disrespectful and ungrateful children. This theme is a driving force for the action in each story. It plays a major role in the destruction of security of the major characters. That destruction alters the path and events of each characters life.

Read More
1526 Words | 7 Pages

O 'Connor designates this tactic to use religion as a tool to radically challenge the goodness of the human heart. This is typical of Flannery O 'Connor 's fiction, her short story A Good Man is Hard to Find is an observation on the universal demand for the grace and hope of Jesus Christ, as O’Connor introduces characters that are extremely ill-mannered and

Read More
1107 Words | 5 Pages

Literary Analysis essay- A good man is hard to find Authors often have a specific purpose to portray the character’s actions or personality. The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O 'connor 's shows a story about a family composed of a married couple two children, whose are about to go on a vacation. The grandmother tries to make them change their destiny using the fact that a murderer has escaped jail and that it could be dangerous to go to Florida because of that. The story continues with the journey on their way to Florida.

Read More
831 Words | 4 Pages

She makes excuses trying to convince her son Bailey to take them to east Tennessee. The next morning the grandmother was the first one to get in the car. She hid her cat, Pitty Sing in the car in a basket. She didn’t want the cat to be left alone while they were in Florida for three days.

Read More

More about A Good Man Is Hard To Find Theme

Related Topics

Open Document