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Literary Analysis Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find

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jLauryn O’Mara Mrs. Haro English 11 17 April 2023 A Good Man is Hard to Find Literary Analysis O'Connor's short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find is a southern gothic literature because of the strange events, characters, and an unsettling feeling. This is a tragic short story about a family who had made a visit to Florida; the trip had gone wrong and the Misfit who escaped prison. The protagonist is the Grandmother we learn the most about her traits and character, while the antagonist is the Misfit, he has no morals. In O’Connors short story, she uses foreshadowing, irony, and imagery to develop the theme of a search for a “good man”,it is very difficult to find. A key main literary element O’Connor used in this story is foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is an indication, warning of a future event, to generate or increase narrative tension. O’Connor uses foreshadowing quite a few times; 2 examples are the death of the family, and the grandmother's dress. “They passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle …show more content…

Visually descriptive to add symbolism and enables the reader to imagine what's going on in the story. O’Connor uses imagery in this story to create an unsafe, tense, dark image. An example of this is the description of the woods, “Behind them the lines of woods gaped like a dark open mouth” ( O’Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find"). Showing that the woods are unsafe and can be dangerous to whomever enters. A symbol is also included: a “dark mouth” means consuming the good people; meaning the forest is the place where good people die. The Misfits car is described as “a big black battered hearse-like automobile” ( O’Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find"). A hearse is a big vehicle which is a way to carry coffins to funerals. The car and the color of the car can symbolize death in the story from the Misfit. These examples of imagery show the dark, uninviting mood set through normal

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