A Good Man Is Hard To Find Grotesque Analysis

Flannery O’Connor is widely regarded as one of the most iconic Southern Gothic grotesque writers. Her works such as Wise Blood and “A Temple Of The Holy Ghost” manifest the grotesque writing style quite distinctly through their themes and characterization. Her characters and themes exemplify grotesque in their disfigured and unsettling nature. Perhaps O’Connor’s most notable work of short fiction, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” exemplifies the physical and moral aspects of grotesque. Physically, the grotesque manifests itself through characters. When the family has had an accident and encounter the three escaped criminals, their descriptions are less than appealing. One criminal, Bobby Lee, is described as fat with “his mouth partly

The infamous final scenes of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” are filled with the massacre of an entire family, which alone is appalling. What labels this work as grotesque instead of tragedy are the reactions of the Grandmother upon realizing she is the last family member left. Knowing the imminence of her own murder. The Grandmother chooses to plead with the Misfit for her life. She tells the Misfit that he “ought not to shoot a lady.(PAGE NUMBER)” The Grandmother even goes as far to bargain with him for her life, promising she will ”give [the Misfit] all the money [she had]!(PAGE NUMBER)” Throughout the story she has appeared quite self-centered, such as when she manipulated June Star and John Wesley into convincing their father to go to the Grandmother’s old house by promising there was “a secret panel (PAGE NUMBER)” filled with silver. The instance of her begging for mercy is no different. She chooses to beg for her life through manipulation instead of expressing concern or sadness for her murdered relatives. The Grandmother’s egocentric actions only add to the irony of the Misfit referring to her as a “good woman (PAGE