A Good Man Is Hard To Find Symbolism Analysis

At first read, the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is thought to be one solely regarding disobedience and death. Flannery focuses a great deal on the children, John Wesley and June Star, and their defiant attitudes towards their grandmother. The grandmother feels as if it is her duty to redirect the two recalcitrant children into a life of respect. This is known when the grandmother says, “‘In my time,’ said the grandmother, folding her thin veined fingers, ‘children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else’” (O’Connor 252). Furthermore, O’Connor depicts death as an importance in the story. The entire family was murdered by The Misfit and his accomplices at the end of the

The topics of disobedience and death are still very much prevalent in the story, however, O’Connor gives them a much deeper meaning that the reader must search for. The meaning of both of these topics is in relation to sin and straying from the path of God. Flannery O’Connor, a faithful Catholic, makes use of deliberate symbolism and biblical references to illustrate a grotesque story that focuses on the sins of humankind and the hypocrisy of many churchgoers.

Flannery O’Connor’s faith is an important element in the truth and meaning of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. O’Connor was known to be a devout Christ-follower all of her life. Even while she was severely ill with lupus, she found the strength to go to Mass nearly everyday (PBS). O’Connor’s faith is what led to the writing of this story. O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a blend of religious themes with secular morality. O’Connor includes both in her story to show that only one can be the truth; and as John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”. It seems a bit odd with how comfortable and natural O’Connor’s writing seems