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Indirect Causation : Everyone Bears Some Guilt By Flannery O ' Connor 's ' A Good Man Is Hard

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Indirect Causation: Everyone Bears Some Guilt
Flannery O’Connor’s story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” shows a family vacation to Florida that ends in tragedy. The major characters in the story include the grandmother; Bailey, her son, his wife, the children’s mother, and the two children, John Wesley, and June Star. Other characters include Red Sammy, his wife, the Misfit, and his two accomplices. Although the grandmother plays the leading role in the story, the actions of other characters, some innate, also play a role in the family problem.
In this story, the grandmother seems to consider herself as the leader of the family. She seems to think of herself as having higher standards than other people, and therefore, she is quick to pass judgment on others. For example, she tells the children’s mother and father, “You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be bored. They never have been to Tennessee” (O’Connor 436).” The grandmother is a very opinionated, talkative, narcissistic, and manipulative woman who frequently controls the other family members. She is the one who calls attention to the fact that a dangerous criminal is on the loose and is located on the route to Florida. Apparently the grandmother thinks this information can compel the father and mother to change their traveling plans. The grandmother seems to cares only about her own wants and desires and has little interest in the wants and desires of

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