Character and Conflict

A Good Man is Hard to Find: Character and Conflict “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, written by Flannery O’Connor, follows the summer vacation of a family in Florida coming from Georgia. While driving, the family’s car ends up in a crash after a chain of events caused by the grandmother. In an attempt to rectify the situation, the grandmother waves down a passing car, only for the passengers to step out with guns in hand. After shouting out her sudden realization that one of the men is an escaped prisoner known as “The Misfit”, the situation takes a deadly turn. In order to keep his presence a secret, the family members are taken to be killed, while The Misfit converses with the grandmother. In the middle of The Misfit talking about his life and the grandmother trying to preserve her own, it seems that the escaped criminal is on the verge of an emotional breakdown. After attempting to console The Misfit and assure him that he is a good person, the grandmother is shot and killed. The Misfit and his companions leave soon afterwards, the entire family dead. Based on the events of the story, it seems that the author is making a statement about the nature of humans and the world around them. The characters have their own perceptions of the world and ways of interacting with it. The contrasts displayed seem to play a big part in the story’s central idea. The character within the story that is perhaps the most crucial is the grandmother. The grandmother automatically comes off as self-centered and manipulative. Before the confrontation with The Misfit, the grandmother attempts to manipulate her family into driving towards Tennessee to visit old connections. Even when her attempts fail, she moves on towards visiting other locations in Florida, using her own grandchildren to get what she wants. Her self-centered ways are most notably shown when she is concerned with preserving her own life, rather than the lives of her family members, when