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Norms In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

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In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we see the impact societal beliefs and norms have on a person’s life. Whether people are pushed into troublesome situations or make choices that lead them into being punished this can lead them to have a huge change in their life. Although most would consider the punishment to be hard enough to deal with then comes the aftermath, the weakness’ that are created, along with the hardships, the breaking of your own beliefs and doubting yourself along with doubting those around you. At the beginning of the story all we see is the Misfit’s outer shell and the grandmothers perception of him, “ ‘I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attack this place right here … If he hears about it being …show more content…

Is it the kindness, the empathy, or simply the beliefs that everyone is a good person, in this case a good man. The argument of what a good person is is always changing based on the society around them. Male characters specifically are the ones in question throughout this story. Not only with the character of the Misfit but also in the character of Red Sam who questions his judgment in other males. “ … You know I let them fellers charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that?” (page 409). This pinpoints Red Sam’s attempt to be a good guy but needing the reassurance of a women, the grandmother, to tell him he is a good man. In this scenario a good man would be defined as someone who is courteous to those around him. There is also the scenario of Red Sam describing what the past was like, “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more” (page 409). Trustworthiness is another characteristic of a good man according to this conversation between the grandmother and Red Sam. While being courteous and trustworthy seem to be simple attributes any person should have in this society these qualities are considered rare and special but also significant to be considered a good

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In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O’Connor is about a family going to Florida, but there will be lesson that they will learn is their personal lives. One main thought that surfaces in the story is how there is so few of good men left in the world and how does a decent man treat others. The characters in the story see themselves as incredible people in light of moral codes that they stay by. These ethical codes are significantly flawed regardless, leaving each character blinded by their own particular gaudiness. O'Connor shows the character of the Misfit, an escaped executioner.

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First off, the revelation at the end of A Good Man is Hard to Find is conveyed through the words of the Misfit: “‘She would have been a good woman... ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” (O’Connor 11). First echoed through the title of the piece, the final words of the Misfit reveal a truth about humanity: many act out of self interest and genuinely “good” people are rare. Prior to the grandmother’s death, she constantly pleads to “Jesus” requesting aid.

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The grotesque psychopathic nature of the characters in Flannery O’Connor’s, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” ironically shows how a good man does not truly exist through the revelation and proclamation of what characteristics a good man possess. In the story The Misfit shows characteristics of a psychopath by escaping prison and killing an innocent family. However, The Misfit isn’t the only character in the short story to show psychopathic tendencies. The grandma also shows some characteristics of a psychopath because she does not care or show remorse for her family who was brutally murdered

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“A Good Man is Hard to find”, was one of Ms. Flannery O’Connor’s well known story that shows what she is known for in her writing : violence, well thought characters with humor, and shows her Roman Catholic faith. Throughout the story, there are certain details that make the story what it seems to be than what Ms. O’Connor had to portray. Although it would be seen as a shocking violent murder plot all in one, there can be another side to the story as well. In the story of A Good Man is Hard to Find shows that people would think O’Connor was mocking religion, in actuality she was not. The characters in the story are used to expose the idea between good and evil and hypocrisy.

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Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” deals with the flawed moral conduct of a presumed religious figure and a criminal. The Grandmother, who is the protagonist in this story and The Misfit, who is the criminal, are heavily influenced by their environment. Both of these characters show the relationship between environment and identity. O’Connor’s inspiration for this story is rooted in her deeply religious, Catholic beliefs. The author brings the reader down a road which questions if having religious beliefs makes a good person.

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In the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the author, Flannery O'Connor, demonstrates how a family vacation can quickly face a violent end, caused by a criminal known as “The Misfit.” Looking at the short story through a feminist point of view, one can quickly gather that O’Connor uses the traditional gender roles right from the beginning of the story. As reading the title, it automatically suggests the men in this short story are untrustworthy, not prevalent, and dangerous. With that being said, the female characters in this story are viewed in the eyes of how a woman should act.

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In the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor’s goal is to teach her readers an important lesson. By presenting an exaggerated and flawed character, and through a peek into her life, she displays the consequences of many faults, but most importantly, the danger of a lack of self-awareness. By the end of the story, the main character, Grandmother, has had an epiphany, brought on by a traumatizing event. By giving them an outside view of the folly of her character, Flannery O’Connor hopes to warn her readers of following the same path that will inevitably lead to destruction in some way or another.

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As you can see her stories are surrounded by her belief. In today’s world societal morals and values have drastically crumbled making the world an unacceptable place. Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” moves from a family comedy into a brutal revelation while on a family vacation. While on the way to find the homestead where grandmother grew up, she puts them down the wrong path right into a murderer’s escape route.

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Even though human nature is flawed within Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, there is a chance for redemption near the story’s ending. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the Grandmother has an epiphany with the Misfit that increases her chance for redemption. Throughout the entire story, the Grandmother is known for her selfish thinking and her one-track mind that, like many humans, is only focused on what she would like to do. Redemption for

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In her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor introduces the reader to a world of family issues, danger, and murder. The story was written in 1955 during a period of social and racial unrest in the southern United States. Mostly, the story follows O 'Connor 's basic Southern Gothic writing style. A work that is "cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent" (Galloway). While the quote gives major insight into the theme of the story, it does not offer a glimpse into O 'Connor 's real message of the story.

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In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor creates a story where the roles of good and evil blend together. In the short story, a family in the rural South gets caught up with a criminal named the Misfit after their wreck and they end up getting murdered. The clash between the grandmother and the Misfit highlights the religious aspects of the story and also O’Connor’s beliefs. Her stylistic traits of violence, distortion, and religion are used to convey a corrupt world that needs salvation. O’Connor’s trait of violence is used throughout to reveal the corrupt and criminal world that emanates the need for salvation.

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There is a lot of pressure on men in society to be manly; however, what exactly does it mean to be manly? Though many people have different opinions, a lot of them conclude that a man has to be strong and somewhat emotionless to be considered a man. This assumption can lead to Toxic Masculinity, which is “A false idea that men are expected to be as manly as possible” (The Hard, Adrenaline-Soaked Truth About 'Toxic Masculinity, 2017). Men are forced to face these assumptions not only from those around him, but also from people he might see in Media. Media reinforces Toxic Masculinity which in turn causes men to belittle women.

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The balance of what is good and what is bad is a rather controversial topic in the story "A Good Man is Hard to Find". Most notably, the characteristics of both the Grandmother and the Misfit. The Misfit portrays an immoral personality and seems to be the evil in the story while the grandmother is the innocent lady seeking to be the good in this story. However, the religious virtues effect both personas and in itself draws the line around them mutually as sinners. Both characters have a particular relationship with Jesus, a physical crisis crossed with a spiritual crisis and different conceptions of reality; thus, revealing how the portrayal of these characters are not what may seem.

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In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” she uses writing skills such as symbolism and imagery to get across her different themes to the reader’s with plenty of room for self-interpretation. Though O’Connor’s work could be defined as cynical, she does an excellent job of writing in the third person with her uncomplicated structure of sentences leaving plenty of room for her character 's thoughts, feelings, and actions to get across the realism of our world. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is a battle between a grandmother with a rather artificial sense of goodness, and a criminal who symbolizes evil. The grandmother treats goodness as having good manners, and coming from a family of higher class, but at the end of the story comes to

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