Reality In O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

In O'Connors, A Good Man is Hard to Find the main protagonist is a grandmother, which she intentionally leaves nameless, that forms the focal point of a story who has, through the stories sum, been battling with her conscious and subconscious minds the second of which is consumed by a nostalgic aching for an imagined, perhaps bent reality of the past. This nostalgic desire, which drives the story, is rooted deep in a yearning to return to a representation of a reality that resonances with her, one in which she is important, one in which she easily fits, one in which she believes is perfect, one which will end the battle between her conscious and subconscious that rages within her. This mental struggle ultimately changes her perception of reality

(O’Connor)

The grandmas impression of solace is twisted by recollections and beliefs ruminating in her subliminal mind as she always searches for and sticks to signifiers that mirror the world she wants, one in which goodness as she would like to think still exist and can be characterized along certain lines that enable her to fit into it. This is the part of her struggle, the battle between her cognizant and intuitive personalities. As the story advances, nonetheless, the reader starts to comprehend that it's not goodness that has been consumed, but rather the thoughts against which the grandma has constantly characterized as goodness, leaving the grandma attempting to accommodate a perspective that does not reflect reality, which is a very serious situation, and which is eventually the wellspring of her torment. Along these lines, the agony from which the grandma looks for alleviation does not originate from the world, but rather from her view of it. This distortion of the grandmother’s perception, which ultimately leaves her and her family stranded, is key in understanding a cognitive view of human nature and