Preview

A Good Man Is Hard to Find - 4

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1874 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Good Man Is Hard to Find - 4
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Many people struggle with the idea of what it means to be a “good” person and what it means to be a “bad” person. The human quest to be good drives virtually everything we do but sometimes in the end may not amount to enough. We all want to be good, but it 's not easy. If you ask an evil person and a good person the same question, "Are you a good person?" Who do you think is more likely to say yes, the good person or the evil person? Everyone has their own opinion about certain issues, and they depend on their values, judgment, and beliefs to see them through their difficulties. Flannery O’Connor, an American writer, was quoted as saying "I see from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. This means the meaning of life is centered in our Redemption by Christ and that what I see in the world I see in relation to that" (Contemporary Authors 402). In the short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Flannery O’ Connor illustrates her argument of good and evil through a grandmother who struggles with her own insincere sense of goodness, and the Misfit who represents evil. Only true goodness illuminates when in the face of something bad. In the story a character who views herself as good comes to realize that this goodness that she believes she has cannot protect against the works of evil.
I Analysis of a Good Man
O’Connor paints her own picture of what the grandmother believes to be a “good man.” The grandmother seems to treat goodness mostly as a function of being decent, having good manners, and coming from a family of "the right people." At the beginning of the story the grandmother discusses a story of her past love explaining how he was the most upright gentleman she met, claiming he too was a “good man.” She stated “he was a very good- looking man and a gentleman and that he brought her watermelon every Sunday afternoon with his initials cut in it, E.A.T.” (O’Connor 98). The grandmother was unique in the way she described



Cited: Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series. Ed. James Ethridge and Barbara Kopala.. Gale Research Company. Detroit. 1981. 402-403. “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” O’Connor, Flannery. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, by O’Connor, Flannery; Asals, Frederick. pp. 31-54. Rutgers University Press, 1993. (24 pages).

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R.…

    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is a good man? Everyone has his or her own definition, but what is the correct definition? Good, can depict anything from someone being righteous, to something simply working proper. In Flannery O'Connor's short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the definition of good is shown mostly through the eyes of the grandmother. She sees anyone within the upper class as being good. However, the veteran and store owner Red Sammy appears a good man for charging two boys. By the end of the story, her mind is opened as she begins to see who she was and what her selfishness had caused. The Grandmother's opinion of what a ‘good man' is based on if the person thinks the way she thinks. This causes her definition to change throughout the story until…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a family who goes on a road trip. The reader is introduced to a character that first appears to be confused about life and religion but later comes across as more knowledgeable about religion and his own existence philosophies than the other characters portrayed in the essay. The characters consist of the Grandmother, the parents, the two kids, the cat, and of course the Misfit, a murderer who had escaped from jail.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to the fact O’connor statements and her use of violence, the article discusses topics about unclear subjects that takes place in the short story and clarifies them. The article also talks about “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is based off of a real murder who killed an eight-year old girl, which O’Connor story and the murder had many similarities. Finally the article goes into great detail about how the grandmother at the end of her life was probably faking and trying to save her own life by pleading to the Misfit that he was a goodman. This source will help me in my essay by proving the grandmother true feelings of how she defines the word good. This article leads me to believe that the grandmother was just acting to save her life because…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the grandmother and Misfit live by moral codes that affect their decisions, actions, and perceptions. A moral code is a set of beliefs and behaviors that people abide by to live what they consider to be a reasonable, fulfilling lives. The term moral doesn’t necessarily mean “good”; it’s simply a code of conduct, while the righteousness of a person’s morals is entirely subjective. Although at first glance the Misfit’s code seems to be misguided, it is actually the grandmother’s code that proves to be flimsy and inconsistent. The grandmother has built her moral code on the characteristics that she believes make people “good.” She places great stock in being a lady, for example, which emphasizes appearance over substance.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man is Hard to Find

    • 1397 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is a short story that depicts a family road trip to Florida that ends in an abysmal tragedy when they meet the Misfit, a remorseless convict who has escaped from prison. In the beginning, the Grandmother is obsessed with everything worldly and superficial. She is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. Towards the end of the story, the grandmother finds herself in ominous dialogue with The Misfit. In the story, The Misfit represents a quasi-final judgment. He does this by acting like a mirror. He lets whatever The Grandmother says bounce right off him. He never agrees nor disagrees with the grandmother, and in the end, he is the one who kills her. At the end of the story, before the Grandmother meets her fate, she has a moment of redemption. She finally distinguishes The Misfit for who he really is, not a psychopathic killer on the loose; but a person just like herself. The Misfit, being a man who is not created from social class; he is a simple human being just like the grandmother. At this point she sees herself in relation to everyone else. She finally realizes that she is not made by her class. Society makes the class, and she just fits into it. She shows this by claiming that The Misfit could be one of her own children. This story is meant to be interpreted as a parable, whereby O'Connor made skilful use of symbolism to bring about messages such as the social-superiority and the lack of spiritual faith that exist amongst common people; and the grace in humans is exposed, only when facing adverse and fatal circumstances.…

    • 1397 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," there are a couple of offbeat characters who are in a steady conflict and this short story concentrates for the most part on the identities and characteristics of the two principle characters, the grandmother and an escaped convict called ‘The Misfit’. These two appear like straight opposites, which makes for an exceptionally fascinating connection with regards to their knowledge and boundaries in regard to grace in this short story. The grandma, as every single other grandma, can destroy somebody's ear with her unpredictable perspectives and purposeless ramblings. She is never straight forward and turns her discussions into long, drawn-out point by point stories. The grandma's personality and character are…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cited: O’Conner, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find. ”A Little Literature. Ed. Sylvan…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ambiguity in O'Connor

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ambiguity in short stories is common and can be used in many different ways by the author. Flannery O 'Connor uses ambiguity in the theme of her story, ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find '. Throughout the entire story the notion of ‘a good man ' continues to arise. While the characters in the story dwell on the idea of a good man, it is never clear what makes a man good. Adding to the vagueness of the theme is each characters interpretation of the term ‘good man '. The grandmother seems to have an old-fashioned outlook, always speaking highly of the people in past times. At one point in the story she is preaching to her grandchildren, "In my time, children were more respectful…" implying that people are less considerate and polite presently than in the past. Later in the story she is conversing with a restaurant owner, Red Sammy, and states that "People are certainly not nice like they used to be," again implying that people of the past were better than the people of today. However the grandmother 's view of a good man is not the standard used by others in the story. During the conversation at the restaurant, the grandmother explains that she believes Red Sammy is a good man. This perception evidently is not shared completely by Red Sammy 's wife. Sammy 's wife claims, "It isn 't a soul in this green world of God 's that you can trust. And I don 't…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man is Hard to Find

    • 1860 Words
    • 8 Pages

    herself writes, “I write the way I do because (not though) I am a Catholic” (O’Connor, “On Her Catholic Faith” 435). Without keeping her Christian background in focus, it is impossible to fully understand and interpret O’Connor’s stories. Her major subjects, according to Frederick J. Hoffman, include the struggle for redemption, the search for Jesus, and the meaning of ‘prophecy’ (33). It often takes a personal crisis to awaken someone to spiritual matters. In the context of eternal spiritual realities, the crises in life, despite their ominous outward appearances, take on a lesser significance than the spiritual realities that these crises often uncover. These interpretations accurately describe the journey that the grandmother takes in “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” It is critical to read this story in light of O’Connor’s Christian focus and to look for the faith message embodied by the characters and their experiences. In this story, the grandmother's journey from manipulative self-absorption to grace symbolizes a Christian's journey toward salvation.…

    • 1860 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages

    *Re-read the Story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor , following the “Re-Reading Fiction Suggestions” above. Answer the following questions:…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people ask what makes a good man. Some think a good man is, a man that is good to his family and friends, some say that it is someone that is good to complete strangers. Well both of these statements are true examples of a good man. The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is a very good story that explains what a good man really is. That makes the true meaning of being a good person the theme. It is the theme because the story shows how to be a bad person and how to be a good person, and when they should be a good person.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard to Find

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Flannery O’Connor’s story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, brings a story in which she connects her experience as a victim of lupus erythematosus with her writings. The story begins with an ordinary family that embarks on a journey that becomes the last of their lives as the journey approaches to an end, as well as their imminent death, yet something astounding happens with the main character. The main character, the Grandmother, changes her heart by the cruel ways of the “Misfit”, who is a criminal that escaped from the penitentiary. One might think that Grandmothers are sweet and loving, and often innocent due to their advanced age and condition. We, as society, think of them as great examples of people that radiate love, mentors, and defenders of morality and good manners. However, this is not the case in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor. As the story unfolds, her personality reflects that hidden evil we all carry inside and how detouring on a route takes a whole family to face disastrous consequences, yet one person finds redemption from that evil. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a story that symbolizes redemption, because there is a sinner, there is a journey, and there is redemption.…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Moment of Grace

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", Flannery O’Connor utilizes the theme as a literary element to create multiple features of her characters in the story such as those of Bailey's mother known as the Grandmother and The Misfit. The Grandmother considers herself as a proper southern lady that is upright and wise but not until the story takes a tragic turn does she begin to realize that she is not who she thinks she is.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Well Hello There!

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cited: O 'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. 8th ed. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 1999. 1042-53. Print.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays