A Good Man Is Hard to Find written by Flannery O’ Connor

A Good Man Is Hard To Find
“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is written by Flannery O’ Connor. This cynical short story takes a dive into this family’s lives while they are on a road trip to Florida. During this supposed to be long-lasting vacation, the reader gains a grasp of each character and their personalities. As this ‘not so close’ family travels through Georgia, the grandmother and children convinced the father, Bailey, with their whining, to go off course to some house the grandmother remembers. Unfortunately, the grandmother forgot to mention that the detailed house she remembers is in Tennessee, not Georgia. At the same moment the grandmother’s cat latches onto Bailey’s neck as panic sweeps through when their car flips twice into a ditch. The overwhelming feeling of being saved arises as they watch strangers slowly pull up, quickly fades when the grandmother screams, “You’re The Misfit”. Throughout this story, both the Misfit and the grandmother are unable to see the truth about themselves and are in deniable about their self-concept. The grandmother is a self-deluded, manipulated woman who is convinced that she is a good person and comes from ‘good blood’ and her grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, see right through it. Her son, Bailey, is only tolerant of her because she is his mother, up until her ignorance is too much for him to handle during the accident. The Misfit, a criminal and a murderer, is equally if not more self-deluded than the grandmother. Ironically, he has a seriousness about life’s meaning (of lack thereof) and a searching need to look below the surface of events that the grandmother lacks. It takes the murder of the grandmother’s family and the immanent threat of her own death to break through her hard shell of denial and open her eyes to her common humanity with the lowly Misfit at the end of the story.
The grandmother believes she is the most righteous in the family. On the contrary, her whole family cannot stand her. She was over exaggerative, a pest, bothersome, and dramatic: “…she rolled her eyes and waved her head and was very dramatic” (O’Connor 355). Even her grandchildren make fun of her: “Afraid she’d miss something. She has to go everywhere we go” (O’Connor 353). Throughout the whole trip, she talks about Tennessee and how great it is. June Star and John Wesley continue to pick on her and say anything they can to get under her skin: “Tennessee is just a hillbilly dumping ground” (O’Connor 354). The grandmother’s mind is completely set on Tennessee. She is misses it so much that she forgets they are traveling in Georgia and believes they are in Tennessee: “…that the house she had so vividly remembered was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (O’Connor 359). Her being of “good blood” and the Tennessee life took a hold of her and it resulted in getting her family into an accident. After getting the kids on her side and begging Bailey to go to the house from her childhood, she is still too proud to admit she was wrong: “The grandmother decided that she would not mention that the house was in Tennessee” (O’Connor 359).
The grandmother’s son Bailey is quiet throughout most of the trip. He has to deal with his mother wanting to go everywhere they go, with her cat, and pestering the whole time: “…she cautioned Bailey that the speed limit was fifty-five miles an hour and that the patrolmen hid themselves…” (O’Connor 354). However, she is his mother, so he puts up with her behavior without saying a word. However, after the accident, it seems as if all of Bailey’s irritation towards his mother unleashes. As soon as the car crashes, rolls over, and ends up in a ditch, Bailey’s attitude and behavior change from calm and docile to enraged and aggressive: “Bailey removed the cat from his neck with both hands and flung it out the window against the side of the pine tree” (O’Connor 359). He was yelling and demonstrated anger towards his mother. When the Misfit and his companions came, he tried to handle the situation instead of allowing his mother to do it: “Hush! Everybody shut up and let me handle this” (O’Connor 361). Unfortunately, the Misfit only wanted to hear from the grandmother. Bailey’s frustration continued to escalate and was rude and aggressive towards his mother: “…said something to his mother that shocked even the children. The old lady began to cry…” (O’Connor 360). However, even through the frustration and the difficulties this mother and son were put through, their love still came out on top while Bailey was being taken into the woods to be shot. Bailey’s genuine love after everything was shown and he was doing his best to comfort her, when everyone knew what was about to happen: “I’ll be back in a minute, Mamma, wait on me” (O’Connor 361).
Since the Misfit was introduced in the story, although he was a psychopath, he had his own rationalization that can be relatable. The Misfit held his own insight and view upon life and he valued his parents: “God never made a finer woman than my mother and my daddy’s heart was pure gold” (O’Connor 360). He also had an amount of respect for the grandmother and would only listen to her. She tried to relate to him and did she best to see him as an individual and person instead of a gruesome criminal: “I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people” (O’Connor 360). Even though The Misfit knew he was from nice people and good blood, he recognized he wasn’t a good person. He knew he had been in jail, numerous times, and that he was meant to be there. Because of this, he knew he could have been a good person, but he was different and chose a different path. The Misfit had accepted that he was not a good man: “Nome, I ain’t a good man, but I ain’t the worst in the world neither” (O’Connor 361). The Misfit chose this path and was completely content with the path that he chose.
Once the grandmother recognized that the man who “came to their rescue” was the Misfit, she began to ask for his mercy on her life. Her selfishness continued to shine through as she only begged for her life to be sparred instead of her family’s: “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you” (O’Connor 360).