A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

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

Religion symbolism is used often throughout “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” presented mostly threw the character of the grandmother who often uses references to religion when interacting amongst her family and The Misfit. When confronting The Misfit about how to handle his bad behavior, the grandmother states, “If you would pray…Jesus would help you,” indicating Christianity will free The Misfit of his crimes (O’Connor 118). The grandmother projects religion into her solutions to the problems of others and imposes religion upon The Misfit when she emphasizes that he should pray. Flannelly O’Conner’s use of symbolism brings about messages, such as the discrimination and spiritual faith that exists among humans, threw the characteristics of the grandmother. Depicted as a "good" woman, with reliance in God, sin lies within the character as she believes she is better than others around her and views appearance and self-image as important. Eyes are also an important symbol throughout O'Connor's short story; indicating character's mindset. When listening to "The Tennessee Waltz [on the jukebox]…The grandmother’s brown eyes were very bright” with her yearning to dance to the tune (O’Conner 29). After he kills The Grandmother and removes his glasses, "The Misfit's eyes were red-rimmed and pale and defenseless-looking" as he has a change of

Each member of the family in O’Conner’s story has specific faults. The mother has sloth, the father anger, the children greed, and the grandmother who has the most obvious faults of character lives out vanity. The theme behind “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is, presented in the grandmother’s desperate attempt to save herself from The Misfit, the moments of grace. Grace is an important theme and is given to the grandmother and The Misfit. The Grandmother ends up in one of the most significant positions of life as a Christian. When faced with death, “to all appearances she, like the rest of us, is not too well prepared for it. She would like to see the event postponed”, (Gunner 10). After the death of her son, Bailey, the grandmother begs The Misfit to pray for Jesus’s help. By calling The Misfit one of her own children, right before she is shot three times through the chest, she identifies him as a human capable of being saved by God’s Grace. The Misfit achieves grace when he ends the story explaining that, “It’s no real pleasure in life” to take away another’s life after previously having to have claimed the only pleasure in life being meanness (O’Conner