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

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” minor character June Star’s self-oriented and inconsiderate nature in conjunction with her pessimistic views highlights the detrimental and, in her case, deadly effects of rejecting religious salvation and refusing to develop meaningful, authentic relationships with family members. June Star’s selfish disposition and infatuation with earthly luxuries elicits the inevitability of moral misdeed in the absence of sufficient faith and strong family ties. Her insulting remarks and apparent pessimism while on the family vacation highlights the lack of benefits that results from failure to establish valuable relationships with others and with God; her additional lack of compassion implies

June Star’s reliance on earthly enjoyments for internal satisfaction emphasizes the meaninglessness of life without religious conviction and the inability of these earthly pleasures to provide the same unique fulfillment as genuine family connections and faith in God. June Star reveals her selfish nature when she complains to her mother on their trips that “[she] could never do what [SHE] wanted to do” (O’Connor 10); however, her narcissistic whining in an effort to “see the house with the secret panel” (9) provokes her eventual death. Her stubborn pursuit of what only she desires validates her lack of empathy and moral decency due to her failure to acknowledge the wishes of those around her; this lack of empathy highlights her self-obsession and suggests her corresponding rejection of faith. June Star’s complete dependence on “see[ing] the house with the secret panel” (9) in order to enjoy the family vacation verifies her preoccupation with worldly amusements despite their fleetingness as well as her foolish neglect of truly valuable relationships. Her devastating death as a result of her self-centeredness portrays the harmful effects of allowing selfish desires to inhibit the

June Star’s refusal to internally reflect in order to attain moral correctness exemplifies her unwillingness to develop a worthwhile relationship with God and others and implies the inevitable negative consequences of remaining rigid in moral misdeed. She demonstrates her aversion toward religious appreciation and self-authenticity when she, instead of fondly observing the very natural and God-made “brilliant red clay banks slightly streaked with purple [...], various crops that made rows of green lace-work on the ground, [and] trees full of silver-white sunlight” (3), she attempts to find enjoyment by “reading comic magazines” (4). June Star’s blatant ignorance of the beautiful, pure creation around her verifies her inability to establish respectable values due to her tenuous belief in God; this lack of moral direction alludes to the vitality of religion in fostering decent ethics. Her conscious efforts to overlook the wonders of God’s creation illustrate her outright denial of the need for religious salvation despite its clear presence in the landscapes around her and fortifies her corruption. The only temporary and fleeting amusement that she obtains by “reading [her] comic