Examples Of Stereotypes In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Flannery O’Connor uses her short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” to show the transformation of two character stereotypes which the grandmother and Misfit embody. This story might seem like a road trip gone wrong but, O’Connor also shows that through compassion and grace, people can change.
The grandmother’s stereotype is a southern, Christian, overpowering mother who is often judgemental and hypocritical. She is flawed from the start and is ultimately responsible for the family’s fate, insisting on the change of course. For instance, in the story's beginning, she proves how demanding she is with her body language towards her son, Bailey. “...she stood with one hand on her thin hip and the other rattling the newspaper at his bald head” (1).

He is portrayed as the stereotypical criminal who has grown violent in life. When he kills the family so casually it seems as if it’s routine,“‘Good afternoon,’ he said,” (8). In a sense, one could see he is detached from his own morality. As he carries on a conversation with the grandmother we learn that he doesn’t see his actions as right or wrong, “‘I found out the crime don’t matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you’re going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it,’” (12). Even when discussing religion he denies that he needs help. This makes the Misfit and the grandmother candidates to receive

When the grandmother is close to death she no longer acts superior. She realizes she is flawed like everyone else. At this point, she recognizes that both she and the Misfit are sinners in need of grace. The grandmother then begins to offer his love and acceptance by referring to him as “one of my [her] own children’ (15). From a Christian standpoint, grace is to love even when you hate. The grandmother’s transcendence to grace happens in her last moments of life. Through her last hours of suffering, she had loved. She then completes this character transformation by dying peacefully with, “her face smiling up at the cloudless sky”