ipl-logo

A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

661 Words3 Pages

One subject that was particularly prominent in Flannery O’Connor’s writings was religion. O’Connor practiced Catholicism and it had a massive impact on her writing, with many stories having some premise on Catholicism and Christianity. One of these stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is heavily based on the idea of redemption and Christianity. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor uses the Grandma’s redemption to justify Catholicism. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the Grandma is redeemed through her conversation with the Misfit. The Grandma in the story starts as a bad person and continues to be until she meets the misfit where she is eventually redeemed. The grandmother at the beginning was very rude and selfish. An example of these behaviors is when she talks about how the past was …show more content…

Overall, this theme manages to validate Catholicism by supporting a key difference between it and Protestantism. One may argue that the Grandma is not redeemed in this story, and therefore the connection between Catholicism and the Grandma’s redemption is not present. However, the behaviors of the characters combined with their actions would raise questions with no clear answers in these interpretations. For example, in one of these interpretations by McDermott, the Grandma is an unfaithful, hypocritical sinner who says that the Misfit is one of her children to show that they are both evil people (11). Some examples of questions that this interpretation will raise are: Why did the Grandma try so hard to get the Misfit to pray? If the Grandma is simply acting, why does she become defeated? These questions require complex explanations that break away from the story’s portrayal of the characters. As a result, the Grandma’s redemption is able to provide more thorough answers to various questions that are raised, while preventing answers from breaking away from the

Show More
Related
1640 Words | 7 Pages

Seth Andrews Professor Citro English 1102 1 February 2023 The Ramifications of a Narcissistic Grandma            Flannery O’Connor was a devout Catholic, considering herself a strong believer. Christians outlook on mankind is that all humans’ natural instincts are to be sinful, self-centered people who put their desires first. However, Christians also believe that God calls them to be loving, gracious, good-natured people who put others needs above their own. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the self-centered and prideful character of the grandma is repeatedly underscored by her actions to her family.

Read More
608 Words | 3 Pages

After reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” I was inspired to do more research on Flannery O’Connor. The two short stories we have had to read in the past week, have been my first encounter with her works. I was aware that she was a Christian writer, so I was not surprised when I saw that we would be reading her. However, she has surprised me quite a bit through her writing. I found it interesting that O’Connor spent much of her life in Georgia.

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

The grandmother is trying to save herself by constantly talking and trying to convince the Misfit not to shoot her, saying, "You've got good blood! I Know you wouldn't shoot a lady! Pray!" (408). Her constant rambling and attempt to make the Misfit feel guilty eventually leads to the death of her family and herself.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

The Grandmother is the only member of the family still alive at this point. The misfit holds the grandmother at gunpoint. The grandmother uses faith as a way to escape death and pleads for the character to spare her life. “Pray!” The grandmother pleads pathetically.

Read More
1142 Words | 5 Pages

Flannery O’Connor is a renowned Southern author, noted for her gothic works and heavily Catholic themes. She focuses predominantly on racial tensions, morality, and divine grace. The religious and moral themes of her short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, converge on the character of the grandmother. Despite the self-proclamations of fulfilling what it means to be a Southern lady, Grandmother holds a superficial grasp of her religion. Throughout the story, the Grandmother never truly changed, only her ostensible actions did.

Read More
810 Words | 4 Pages

She wants him to pray, so he can understand he is an upright person. The grandmother tries to convince the killer that he is an upstanding man; she humanizes him into thinking what she wants him to think. Even though the grandmother dies, she still uses her skills to try to stay

Read More
897 Words | 4 Pages

“A Good Man is Hard to find”, was one of Ms. Flannery O’Connor’s well known story that shows what she is known for in her writing : violence, well thought characters with humor, and shows her Roman Catholic faith. Throughout the story, there are certain details that make the story what it seems to be than what Ms. O’Connor had to portray. Although it would be seen as a shocking violent murder plot all in one, there can be another side to the story as well. In the story of A Good Man is Hard to Find shows that people would think O’Connor was mocking religion, in actuality she was not. The characters in the story are used to expose the idea between good and evil and hypocrisy.

Read More
169 Words | 1 Pages

Among the many authors who have made an immense contribution to the development of American literature and shaped its landscape, it is impossible not to mention Flannery O'Connor. Her excellent writing manner and the fierce, often ironic, and to a certain extent comic works reflected the nature of life in the South with its darkness, religious beliefs, and even fun. While the works by the author were to a large extent impacted by her health condition and the life she had to lead as a result of it, she used to deny the fact. Nevertheless, her short stories, such as “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” contain a reflection on her condition, starting from the history of their creation and to the manner in which those works are written. Under such considerations,

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

She is only trying to convince the misfit that he is a good man because she wants to be freed, and her life is in shambles. Also, the grandmother has already gone back on her word multiple of times, calling the misfit a big, bad, and scary man. Now all of the sudden he is a good man. Therefore, the grandmother still has not changed a

Read More
1048 Words | 5 Pages

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” deals with the flawed moral conduct of a presumed religious figure and a criminal. The Grandmother, who is the protagonist in this story and The Misfit, who is the criminal, are heavily influenced by their environment. Both of these characters show the relationship between environment and identity. O’Connor’s inspiration for this story is rooted in her deeply religious, Catholic beliefs. The author brings the reader down a road which questions if having religious beliefs makes a good person.

Read More
1583 Words | 7 Pages

This particular quote shows how Flannery O’Connor combined two themes into one concept, by taking the theme of God and Religion and Good vs. Evil and adding that into one character’s personality. O’Connor also shows, in this quote, the theme Good vs. Evil for how the grandmother attempted to convert the misfit to her religion instead of going through with his evil scheme. O’Connor’s writing style was very unique and one of a kind. She carefully drew out every character and theme to match perfection. Flannery O’Connor

Read More
346 Words | 2 Pages

can be cause for the reader 's strongest moment of caring with the grandmother. His other main role in the story is to be the irresponsible son, the grandmother anger is constantly trying to avoid through careful manipulation. Grandmother makes odd decisions (brings the cat, dresses nice for a car accident).She believes she can out talk The Misfit and convince him not to kill her. Also, she doesn’t plead for anyone else’s life (selfish).She could’ve been good if she had a gun to her at all times (Misfit quote). The first thing that I learn about her is that she doesn 't want to go to Florida because she 's got relatives to see in Tennessee.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

Redemption is the act of being saved from acts of evil and sin. The debate of whether human nature is redeemable or not has been one to plaque religious scholars. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, this question continues in the interactions between the characters; the most notable being the Grandmother of a rather horrible family and the Misfit, a murderer. While on a road trip, these two characters’ paths collide and lead to a rather unfortunate end where the Grandmother and her family are killed. While many readers believe the ending creates and overall negative tone of the story, some believe that there is a hope for redemption; the story’s author O’Connor who is a devoted Catholic included.

Read More
1287 Words | 6 Pages

The grandma could also be recognized as being the protagonist of the story and as a round character (Hamilton 137 & 141). In the beginning of the story, we are able to see that the grandma believes she is morally superior to everybody. This can be seen from the quote, "I wouldn 't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn 't answer to my conscience if I did" (O 'Connor 205). From

Read More
1601 Words | 7 Pages

The grandmother uses Jesus as a scapegoat to show how she is a child of God while the Misfit tells of how he really perceives Jesus and that there is no justification of his actions. In the event of the car accident, the Grandmother was left with a physical crisis that quickly showed as her family was sent off into the woods to be killed one by one. This soon transitioned to a spiritual crisis both between the Grandmother and the Misfit as she uses Jesus's name to try and escape her fate. This spiritual crisis leads the characters to express their personal conception of reality and how they perceive the revelation of the situation that they are in. The Grandmother has a sense that reality should revolve around her and that she should manipulate tools such as religion to benefit her outcome.

Read More

More about A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

Open Document