A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Although single parenthood is on the rise in homes today, children still often have a father role in their life. It does not matter who the part is filled by: a father, uncle, older brother, grandfather, etc...; in almost all cases, those relationships between the father (figure) and child have lasting impacts on the youth the rest of their lives. In “I Wanted to Share My Father’s World,” Jimmy Carter tells the audience no matter the situation with a father, hold onto every moment.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” share the same plot by having the protagonists in each of the stories end with death. Although their plots are the same, the landscape and imagery of the surroundings, leading up to the death of the characters are different. In these stories, there are different points like the unexpected deaths to make the ending the same. Each story consists of a different scenery/ landscape imagery to show the ultimate ending of death to the main characters.

For example, Bailey does not want her to carry the cat to their journey. However, grandmother does not listen to him and she hides the cat inside the car in a basket and thus secretly brings the cat along with her. On their way, she also wants to go and visit the old plantation even though Bailey does not agree to this. In order to see that she gets what she wants, she talks to the children and convinces them to tell Bailey to do as she wishes. The author writes “There was a secret panel in this house…. and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found . . .” (O’Connor 45). Grandmother says these words craftily in her attempts to convince Bailey to drive to the old plantations even though she knows that she is not telling the truth. Evidently, she leads the family into a dangerous tour drive. In this tour, the family ends up having an accident due to the Pitty Sing cat sneaking out of the car, leaping on Bailey who loses control of the car. She avoids responsibility by pretending to be hurt. Her actions put the family in dangerous situations.

The family originally intends to travel to Florida for their vacation, but Bailey reluctantly changes the location to Tennessee because the grandma feels that the children could use a change in scenery. Oddly enough, in the same conversation, the grandma reads a newspaper article that informs the family that a man who, “calls himself The Misfit is aloose…and headed towards Florida,” and she explicitly states that she would never “take [her] children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (1). The fact that the family is traveling to the same area as The Misfit hints at their encounter in the end of the story.

Bailey and his wife are up in the front seats of the car, and since the grandmother is in the back with the two kids, where her sphere of socialization and influence are more prominent, the kids are learning her bad habits after all through imitation and desensitization. All the settings are revolving around the grandmother, the protagonist, and they are placing her on a road to hell, paved in her own narcissism and condescending behavior.

In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the definition of good can only be determined if we understand two things, the typical definition of good and what to make of the main character known as the Grandmother. The definition of good should first be noted as, “that which is morally right; righteousness.” This will be the analysis of the grandmother and the ultimate decision as to the definition of good throughout this story.

The family wants to take a trip to somewhere exciting. There is a disagreement amongst the family to where to go. Bailey, (the father) the grandmother’s son wants to take the wife, the two kids, John and June, and the baby, to Florida. The grandmother doesn’t want to go and argues with them. To make her case, she mentions that there’s dangerous criminal by the name of The Misfit on the loose, and that he’s headed that way.

In the beginning of the story the grandmother comes up with a plan to change her son Bailey’s mind into going to east Tennessee instead of Florida. She does so by reading a newspaper to him stating that the Misfit is “aloose from the Federal Pen and head[ing] toward Florida.” This foreshadows her future meeting with the Misfit himself that is to come even though she “wouldn’t take [her] children in any direction with a criminal like

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the grandmother and the Misfit become the main focus even though the other characters are involved in the story. Throughout the entire story, The Misfit is portrayed as the symbol of evil because he was in jail; he escaped from jail, and he committed murders. The grandmother believes to be greater than the people that she are around because of the “good” that she portrays. The conventional meaning of good, or possessing or displaying moral virtue, is not the particular good that the grandmother is trying to portray throughout the story. The grandmother believes that good

"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" shows a hidden religious meaning through the story. It might be considered allegorical because when the grandmother and The Misfit have their encounter, they talk about Jesus and religion. She asks him if he prays, hoping he might reconsider taking her life. Violence in the story symbolizes change. For example, it seemed like the grandmother was not super religious, but when she was in a violent situation when her life was in someone else's hands, she becomes spiritual and seeks a moment of grace.

In Flannery O'Connor's eccentric short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the reader is introduced to her fundamental theme of Identity through a typical southern family. O’Connor’s exceptional use of fictional elements such as characterization, point of view, and setting further develop this theme in her work. She does so by familiarizing the use of violence, humor, and salvation along with point of view and setting to create a deeper connection between her work and the reader.

Response of A Good Man is Hard to Find In the short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor, nearly everything is a symbol. The Grandmother represents the audience of readers as being repented but misguided. Throughout the story the Grandmother's actions go through a change. At first the Grandmother is focused on herself and what others think about her, then she has a moment of redemption and knows that she was misguided in her way of thinking.

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the author, Flannery O’Connor communicates literary symbols and prominence of Southern culture. Within the story, there are subtle yet important details that make the entirety of the piece as iconic as it is. The reoccurring theme of being a lady and moral codes both are important to the overall concept of the story.

In the United States fatherless homes have become more prevalent and some may even refer to it as a growing trend. The National Center for Fathering mentions that over twenty million children live in a home without the physical presence of a father, and millions more live have a father who is physically present but not emotionally (“National Center for Fathering” n.d.). The importance of a father figure in a child’s life is critical for healthy child development and subsequently leads to a better adult life. Children’s early experiences and the connections they create with their parents are impactful and ultimately shape who they become as an adult.

The family stops at a restaurant to get a bite to eat, and we find out that the two parents, Bailey and his wife, do not really care for the Grandmother. The Grandmother asks Bailey to dance, but he just declines and ignores her. Bailey’s wife does not seem to care either. They then continue on the road, and the Grandmother begins to tell the story of a house that she really enjoyed passing. She really wanted to go there, so she persuaded the children to want to go as well. After a long time of complaining, they finally convince their father to head back toward this house. They go down this road when all