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Analysis Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

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In the article "The Melancholy Tyrant: Democracy and Tyranny in Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' ", Mark T. Mitchell analyzes O'Connor's short story reflecting on writings by Tocqueville and Plato. Mitchell implies in this article that Tocqueville taught us that contemporary cultures are defined by their love for equality. Equality straightens out many transgressions and unfairness brought upon others by the upper-class communities. In Tocqueville's teachings, this appears to be a good thing. Still, Tocqueville feared that if everyone was looked at as equals there would be no sense of respect for governing authorities or even to God as the ultimate authority. He says that this equality would somehow set people up for political …show more content…

Describing O'Connor, Mitchell writes that she confesses that as a writer she is influenced by her religious beliefs as a Catholic. Mitchell expresses that Flannery O'Connor describes her writings as "stories of original sin"(211). She also states that she believes her audience is that of "people who believe God is dead". Mitchell makes it clear that O'Connor's writings present a clear view of good and evil or "the Holy and the profane (211)." O'Connor has said that she hoped to be looked at as a "hillbilly Thomist" which is some sort of lowly philosopher of theology …show more content…

In the beginning of the article Mitchell writes about Tocqueville's views and even fears about equality. Mitchell writes, " Equality clearly serves to rectify certain injustices perpetuated by certain injustices, however at the same time, it opens the door to new pathologies that few recognize in Tocqueville's day (212)." I witnessed this throughout O'Connor's short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" . Equality is good, but can be harmful. As the grandmother realized that she was not different than "Misfit", she was not better than him, she began to have compassion for him. This was a good thing. On the other hand, the Father, children and "Misfit" took equality to the next level and had no respect for other people's lives. They had no respect for their authority or place. The family didn't respect the grandmother nor the mother because they viewed them as complete equals. "Misfit" had no respect for the authority over him, nor any respect for anyone. He didn't care that the grandmother was elderly, the children were somewhat innocent. He saw everyone as equal, including

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