A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

When the religious grandmother wants to take a trip to Tennessee to see her roots with her son and his family, she does all she can to persuade them to go instead of traveling to Florida. The grotesque short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’ Connor involves a gruesome ending, where the Misfit, who escapes federal prison, ends up murdering the grandmother and her family. The Grandmother believes the Misfit has the potential to be a good person even if he has made mistakes in his past by committing crimes. O’ Connor does not want the grandmother to be looked at as a saint or witch, but does not want the Misfit to be seen as the devil either (Wynne). Irony is used in the story because the Grandmother and Misfit are similar characters,

The character of the Misfit is talked about multiple times in the story before the Misfit actually appears. The grandmother reads from the local paper that the criminal, the Misfit, is loose from federal prison (O’ Connor). I find this ironic because the grandmother and her family are found by the Misfit after they put their car in the ditch. The Misfit says to the grandmother, “I ain’t a good man, but I ain’t the worst in the world neither. I been in the arm service, both land and sea, and been twict married.” (O’ Connor). The Misfit is telling the grandmother he is not the worst person in the world, but he is not the best either. I believe he tells her about himself to get her to stop talking and stop begging for mercy, know matter how much she pleads he is still going to shoot her. Although the Misfit is not a good man, the grandmother is not as perfect as she

Throughout the story we learn the grandmother acts like she knows a lot about religion, but in reality she just thinks she does. The grandmother also does not understand the embodiments of mortality. (Leonard). She makes the mistake of telling the Misfit she recognizes him, which ends up getting her family killed. Right before the Misfit shoots the grandmother, the grandmother begs for mercy by bringing up the little religion she knows. She says, “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady!” (O’ Connor). The grandmother then panics and tells the Misfit he is one of her own sons, and one of her babies. (O’ Connor). I think she does this as a last resort and tries to convince the Misfit he is a good person, but instead she made the mistake of recognizing him and getting her family killed making her no better than anyone else. Being that, neither characters are good people, and do not fit the title of “A Good Man Is Hard to