A Good Man Is Hard To Find And The Night Watchman's

Society functions on the assumption that everyone has his own role to play; this allows the norms set, to dictate the way we should think, behave and act. The role that each person undertakes is dependent on factors such as class, race or gender. And this is why we have numerous roles available to us, simple or grand; yet, all needed to establish a well – functioning society. But from the many societal roles open to us, stems an elitist mentality that some roles are better or of more importance as compared to others, which is exemplified in the short stories: “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “The Night Watchman’s Occurrence Book.” While both the grandmother from Flannery O’ Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and W.A.G. Inskip from Naipul’s “The Night Watchman’s Occurrence Book” believe that they are just performing their roles, their elitist mentality pushes them to impose themselves and their ideas on the “proper way”. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” opens with the grandmother, the protagonist, arguing with her son about their trip. As she continues to argue that their destination must be east Tennessee instead of Florida;

The Night Watchman’s Occurrence Book begins with the introduction of Charles Ethelbert Hillyard, the new night watchman. Upon replacing the watchman, W.A.G Inskip, the hotel manager, immediately warns him to take a detailed account of everything that happens in the hotel at night. Inskip also implies that if Hillyard is caught sleeping on the job, he will be dismissed, though he reassures the manager that this will not be a concern. At this point of the story, we find Inskip asserting himself as the manager by forewarning and instructing the newbie on what he is expected to do. One thing to note is that the two never engage in a regular dialogue, they communicate solely through notes that they leave after their