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"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" Character Analysis on Grandmother

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"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" Character Analysis on Grandmother
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Flannery O’Conner portrayed the unnamed grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” as a very manipulative, deceitful and selfish old woman, unlike an average grandmother. Grandmother posed as a “know it all” woman who bases her life on the past. In the beginning of the short story, the grandmother tries her hardest to change the families mind about traveling to Florida for a vacation because “she” wants to go to Tennessee to meet some of her relatives. Her trying to change her sons, Bailey’s, mind was the first sign of the grandmother’s selfishness. The grandmother avoids telling Bailey her reason for wanting to travel to Tennessee, so she goes by saying there is a serial killer, the Misfit, on the loose in Florida. She sobs about how "she couldn't answer to her conscience if she took the children in a direction where there was a convict on the loose." Her intentions were to guilt trip Bailey about taking the children to Florida; therefore she could have her way. After realizing that her philosophy wasn’t working she decided to blame the mother of the children. The grandmother will do whatever it takes to get her way, and she doesn’t care who feelings will be harmed.
The grandmother decided to go on the trip anyways and bringing her deceitful ways, by sneaking her cat in the car after Bailey told her he didn’t want to take the cat into wherever they decided to lodge. As they traveled the grandmother decided that she wanted to take a detour to an old plantation. The grandmother sat in the back describing the plantation to the children, with intentions to build their urge to want to stop. She filled their heads with white lies about where they were going to make Bailey think they were going for the excitement of the children. The grandmother tried to stretch the truth as much as she possibly could. Throughout the story the grandmother consistently lied to herself and her family. She lied to herself by thinking she was living in the
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