Flannery O 'Connor's Story A Good Man Is Hard To Find'

The children yelled "We've had an ACCIDENT!" and the reader is not sure what will happen next. Shortly after the accident, when the "big black battered hearse-like automobile" pulls up to assist the family and the grandmother recognizes one of the occupants as the Misfit, the tone

Violence and the indefinable definition of a “good man” are two major themes utilized by O’Connor throughout the short story. Violence is a huge factor across America as much as it was when “A Good Man is Hard To Find” was published. Although during those times most individuals were against violence and murder and reacted negatively. People during those times reacted negatively and believed those who committed crimes should be sentenced to death or to cruel punishment. In the short story,

After that, a car came down the road and was flagged down by the grandmother. It was at this time that the family encountered the Misfit, who

A Good Man Is Hard to Find is an interesting short story. Throughout the anecdote, O’Connor focused more on the journey of the story instead of the destination which is different from other writers. Often, authors disregard talking about the journey; rather, they focus more on the destination and the events that took place during that destination. In this case, though, O’Connor describes in detail the events leading up to arriving at Tennessee. She delves into describing characterization and painting a picture for the audience in regards to the characters’ physical appearance and personality trait.

The speaker?s attitude is one of indifference, and this is made apparent by the metaphors she

In the short story A Good Man is Hard to Find, by O’Connor, we are told of the story of a family just about to leave for a trip to Florida. The character we are viewing this story through is the grandmother of the family, mother to the father. The grandmother protested the trip because of supposed bandits that were also headed to Florida, and because she wanted to instead see connections in Tennessee. After ignoring her complaints the family began their trip to Florida. On the way the grandmother was able to talk her son into a slight detour in order for her to see an old plantation she had visited in her youth. Along the old path to this house the grandmother realized she was mistaken about the plantation and through use of her cat accidently

Shortly after, the family is about to set off for Florida. After a brief conversation, Bailey forbids his mother from bringing the cat along for the ride. Once again, the Author expresses her view of her self-absorbed, callous mother through the grandmother. Going against her son’s orders, she decides to bring the cat anyways, for fear it may miss her too much or, in a freak accident, asphyxiate itself on on the gas burners. An utterly selfish action for nothing more than getting what she wants, just because she wants it. This action would prove to be disastrous in the end, showing the self destructive behavior of a woman unfit to be called a “mother” by O’Connor.

In the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, written by Flannery O’Connor, the theme that the definition of a ‘good man’ is mysterious and flawed is apparent. The reader must realize that it is difficult to universalize the definition of a good man because every person goes through different experiences. Thus, these experiences affect his or her viewpoint and in turn flaw ones view on a good man. O’Connor conveys this theme through her excellent use of diction, imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism as well as through a creative use of repetition and an omniscient point of view.

this point, she had concluded on it as she saw her mother's “disappointed face”(2). In the mirror,

and answers from her parents and immediate family whom turned against her because the brother was a family favorite and the only son. She found herself to be all alone. She entered a stage of depression on which event led to a long

In" A Good Man is Hard to Find" there are a variety of themes. The themes in this short story are: the grace of the grandmother and The Misfit, the vague definition of a “good man”, and the class of the grandmother. All of these themes are apparent to any reader, but it does not quite seem to match O’Connor’s depth style way of writing. The two characters, the Grandmother and the Misfit change from beginning to end. Even though they are both different as night and day, they both have principles and stand by their principles no matter what the circumstance.

how Eva killing her son by stating that “ She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six

She criticizes herself for not being prettier, for not teaching her children the “right” lessons and for not living up to Albert’s expectations. After hearing about

When a person is hiding from the rest of society, they begin to show their true personality. It is the opposite when they are in society, a person knows that their true actions would not be acceptable. “ Master Thomas ridiculed the idea that there was any danger of Mr. Covey’s killing me and said that he knew Mr. Covey; that he was a good man…” (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and African Slave, 5)Mr. Covey has to change his behaviors when he is with other members of society because he knows what he would really do would not be accepted. This proves that in order to fit in with society people have to change their true actions, otherwise the fear of being exiled would grow. When this fear takes over and they are forced to change, people are blinded from who they really are. This causes people to have their thoughts completely shaped by society without any reason. One character from the book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain does that exact example of having their thoughts altered without any reason. The character, Buck, said “Laws, how do I know? It was so long ago.” (Twain, 108). Buck only knew that there was a family feud, he had no idea what is about or how it started, all he knew was that he was mad at another family and would do anything to kill them. Buck was at a loss for developing his

and decided she was going to bury him. She tried to get her sister to help but ismeni felt