As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor create very different atmospheres through their use of the elements of point of view and title. The first person point of view of As I Lay Dying creates a tragic atmosphere because its multiple narrators give a personal and unadulterated perspective of the story. On the contrary, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” creates a cynical and critical atmosphere through its dehumanizing narrator. Similarly, its title adds to the critical atmosphere of the work by commenting on the savage nature of humans. In a similar way, the morbid title of As I Lay Dying displays the tragic nature of the work as a whole. The tragic atmosphere of As I Lay Dying and the critical atmosphere of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are exemplified by the points of view and titles of both works. The points of view of As I Lay Dying and “A Good Man is Hard to …show more content…
A prominent motif of the work is death; it is also featured in the title of the novel. The fact that this motif is present in the title contributes to the tragic atmosphere of the work because it sets up the novel to discuss mortality. Likewise, the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” catalyzes the short story’s cynical atmosphere. It does so by analyzing the nature of humans with a comment which is similar to those which the story presents. Both As I Lay Dying and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” have atmospheres which are exemplified by their titles. The points of view and titles of As I Lay Dying and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” contribute to the atmospheres of their works. As I Lay Dying creates a tragic atmosphere though the use of multiple first person narrators and its bleak title. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” presents its critical atmosphere with the aid of its third person limited narrator and its cynical title. Both works utilize their points of view and titles to create their