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Research Paper: a Good Man Is Hard to Find

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Research Paper: a Good Man Is Hard to Find
Research Paper: A Good Man is Hard to Find
A good man really is hard to find. But what is the real definition of a real man? Maybe it is not just the prince charming you see in fairy tales or the perfect guy walking down Sixth Ave. that you pass by everyday to work. Maybe a good guy is simply someone that is good what they do. In this case the relationship between the grandmother and the misfit is just that. The only thing is if the reader sees it as clearly as the author would like them too or simply as she does. The setting of the story is never really clear to the reader. The author never really comes out and says where and when the story takes place, but with a few clues an idea is given on a pretty clear setting of “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The time period begins in the mid-twentieth century. In the first half of the story, the family is at their home in Atlanta, Georgia. The author never really says that they are in Atlanta, but in the story the grandmother writes down that it will take them approximately take them 20 minutes to reach the outskirts of the city. When the family begins on their trip to East Tennessee instead of Florida early that morning, the grandmother observes it’s a beautiful day, not to hot nor cold. They pass up many old plantations and open fields. The grandmother also observes the details in the scenery she describes “the Stone Mountain; the blue granite that in some places came up to both sides of the highway; the brilliant red clay banks slightly streaked with purple; and the various crops that made rows of green lace-work on the ground. The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled”. –O’Conner. They are obviously in the open country and used to seeing the old plantations because there was really no excitement from the family with the children reading magazines and the mother falling asleep, so with this clue as well gave a hint on where the family was from. During their long road trip the



Cited: "Symbol - Definition of Symbol by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia."Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Farlex,Inc., 2011. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/symbol>. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory." Shmoop: Homework Help, Teacher Resources, Test Prep. Shmoop University, Inc., 2011. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.shmoop.com/good-man-hard-to-find/symbolism-imagery.html>. "Hearse - Definition of Hearse at YourDictionary.com." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Free Online at Your Dictionary. 1966-2011. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse>. "Flannery O 'Connor 's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find": Who 's the Real Misfit? | EDSITEment."EDSITEment | The Best of the Humanities on the Web. National Environment for the Humanities. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/flannery-oconnors-good-man-hard-find-whos-real-misfit>.

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