...As the examination of the short fiction piece “A good man is hard to find” By Flannery O’Connor begins we as readers will dive between the words and examine the morals lying there. Using morals as our guide it is key to begin by saying that the definition of moral does not always pertain to “good” and that our use of it will be mainly as a code of conduct that O’Connor’s characters act through. Mainly this idea will be developed further through the actions of the grandmother, but also with a couple moments that are shown with the misfit as he shows his character. As any reader may allow themselves to believe that the grandmother figure of a story may be one of wisdom and maybe even one of a historical viewpoint. Though as we see in “A good...
Words: 1301 - Pages: 6
...As I was reading Flannery O’ Connors “A good man is hard to find”, the first thing that got my attention was the information about the escaped criminal known as the Misfit. This already creates a suspension the something terrible may occur later on in the story, and also something significant was the family in the story was taking a trip through the state nearby where the misfit escape. So as I keep reading I learn more about the family and the journey they desire to take. They do seem a bit dysfunctional and this may cause problems later on down the road. The Grandmother lives with Bailey and his family. She irks the family but at the same time the love between them is noticed. Baily is annoyed by his mom’s behavior and attitude but he still loves her. Bailey has three kids, John Wesley, June Star, and a baby with their mother. John Wesley is a young eight year old boy who is loud and out of control but is also full of wonder. His sister June seems straight to the point and has her own ideas about how she sees everyone and everything. The baby is still very young and not much information is given about it. The mother seems to be a nice lady with not a bad temper, she is the mother of Bailey’s kids, and her...
Words: 831 - Pages: 4
...In a short story “Good man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor’s illustrate all character together with good humor. This story started with family panned to visit Florida, but grandma wants to visit relatives in east Tennessee. Grandma is an unnamed selfish and manipulative leading character care only about herself. In whole story she tries to manipulate everyone including the misfit. At the end of the story, family led into the bad tragedy and everyone get killed. I think, meaning of this story is before we judge other, we need to judge first to ourselves. A short story “For Esma with Love and Squalor” written by J.D Sainger is started with an American soldier receiving invitation from the wedding that he likes to attend,...
Words: 421 - Pages: 2
...Most readers only see the context, and what is boldly written in black and white. But what is truly needed to be understood to get the full truth of what the story is trying to convey lies beneath the printed ink. Underneath the apparent words, written by Flannery O’Connor, holds a religious allusion. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is about the grandmother’s journey to her realization about her actions and beliefs, and her receiving her grace and salvation. Even from the very beginning of the story, we as readers find the grandmother quite irritating. Starting with her reading the newspaper about the Misfit being in Florida, she comes off not very sincere and very manipulative to the family to get her way. She states it would bother her conscience if she took her kids out on vacation with a criminal on the loose like the Misfit. Another way that shows the grandmother’s true character is by the way she dresses. She dresses very elaborate...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...Freeman Bailey Freeman Hensley English 11/ Fourth Period 05 March 2018 Part 14: Rough Draft #2 In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” she writes, “If you would pray,’ the old lady said, ‘Jesus would help you.’ This particular quote shows how Flannery O’Connor combined two themes into one concept, by taking the theme of God and Religion and Good vs. Evil and adding that into one character’s personality. O’Connor also shows, in this quote, the theme Good vs. Evil for how the grandmother attempted to convert the misfit to her religion instead of going through with his evil scheme. O’Connor’s writing style was very unique and one of a kind. She carefully drew out every character and theme to match perfection. Flannery O’Connor adds a major affect to her writing by using Themes, Literary devices, and a specific style in her fiction. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, she perfectly includes her religion into her writing always making it a key point in her stories. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, Red Sammy’s wife said “It isn’t a soul in this green world of God’s that you can trust,”(O’Connor 142). In this...
Words: 1583 - Pages: 7
...Imagine growing up in a negative home situation where the father figure severally mistreats the vulnerable child. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the Misfit’s actions display an unconscious love through sociopathic tendencies. Flannery O’Connor once said “It’s better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.” It is alright to fail when an individual is young. The time of youth is about making mistakes and learning and growing from them in order for a person to become the best version of him or herself. Most people pick up from their error and move on in life. Unfortunately that’s not the case for everyone. The Misfit and his pack are on the run from the police while the Grandmother and her family are on a road trip and they make a stop at Red Sammy’s Diner. While there the monkey is picking at his own fur. He’s “catching fleas on himself and biting each one carefully between his teeth as if it were a delicacy” (O’Connor 9). This is foreshadowing the Misfit’s appearance. It displays...
Words: 1517 - Pages: 7
...grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor because her selfishness leads to her and her family’s death in the end. The grandmother lacks severe self-awareness, but she still describes herself to be a lady. The grandmother is a southern older Caucasian woman who only cares about her self-image and how everyone else sees her. She is an uptight person, who thinks the world revolves around only her. Most of it has to do with her pride and what she did not have within her life. Her way of speaking and how she dresses are indications that she considers herself to be a lady. For instance, when they are traveling the grandmother has on “a navy blue straw sailor hat...
Words: 711 - Pages: 3
...Good or Bad Hypocrisy is to claim to have certain moral behaviors, but the person speaking of the behaviors does not enforce them on himself. In today’s society, many arrogant individuals feel that making themselves seem better than the rest of the crowd causes people to look up to them. In reality, the crowd actually believes that they are foolish. In the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the author addresses the consequences of poor judgment and how this leads to the death of the main character. The grandmother attempts to talk her son and his wife into going to Tennessee instead of Florida because a man called the misfit has escaped prison. After they stop at the tower and speak with the owner, Red Sam, the grandmother remembers an old plantation that she would like to see again, and she even exaggerates about the house so her son will stop by. After having an accident on the dirt road leading to the plantation, the grandmother realizes the house is actually in Tennessee. The spoiled old lady waves down a car for help, and the people in the vehicle turn out to be the misfit and his henchmen. She makes a mistake by announcing that she knows who they are. As a result, the misfit and his crew kill her and the rest of the family, leaving her last to die. Through the author’s use of tone, symbolism, and characterization, O’Connor proves that labeling someone as “good” is only true if he has morals and grace, not selfishness and blindness. The grandmother...
Words: 1497 - Pages: 6
...Writers mainly use a variety of rhetorical strategies devices to convey their ideas and emotions of the characters that are presented in the story. When different strategical techniques are used, the characters become realistic and enlivening to the readers. “A Good Man is hard to Find” by Flannary O’Connor contains many symbolic attributes that helps keep the reader connected and know the characters’ way of thinking. The grandmother was interested in taking a trip to Tennessee with her family, however; her family was more interested in taking a trip to Florida. The main grandmothers concern was not going to a state where criminals are on the loose. The author brings about a shocking ending that leaves the reader in wonder and denial. Foreshadowing...
Words: 854 - Pages: 4
...teaching Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Adriana Obiols Roca ‘16 / Swarthmore College Spring 2014 a project completed for Prof. Peter Schmidt’s English 71D, “The Short Story in the U.S.” Swarthmore College, Fall 2014 Objectives: students will… * Understand the differences between direct and indirect characterization and be able to identify examples of each. * Understand the uses of irony and foreshadowing in the story as well as more generally in literature. * Become acquainted with Flannery O’Connor and her writing style, particularly with her use of the grotesque. * Explore the complexity of the themes present in the story and the characters O’Connor has created, especially the Misfit and the grandmother. * Exercise a variety of critical thinking and analytical skills in order to form ideas and opinions about O’Connor’s story and her writing strategies. * Practice reading comprehension and summarization. * Employ and practice writing skills in an essay assignment. Necessary preparation: The teacher should have familiarized him or herself with Flannery O’Connor’s life and work before the lesson by using the links provided below. It is also important that the teacher review definitions of the terms characterization, irony, and foreshadowing (see below). Students are expected to have read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” as well as her essay “Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction”...
Words: 2765 - Pages: 12
...Cotina Moore English 1302 Essay #1 Southern Gothic Fiction 02 March 2015 “What Is In A Title” A Literary Analysis of Flannery O’ Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Good Country People,” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” “I am not afraid that the book will be controversial, I’m afraid it will not be controversial-Flannery O’Connor Flannery O’Connor is considered one of the best short story authors of the 20th century. Born in Savannah Georgia in 1925, O’Connor was a devout Catholic. Her writings incorporated religious themes and her southern life (Bio). When reading O’Connor’s short stories, it is very surprising and shocking that the stories are often dark and controversial. Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “Good Country People,” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” use macabre, grotesque violence, irony, and grace through the depiction of her characters to illustrate that when an individual is faced with “grave” circumstances; those are the moments when grace is realized. Flannery O’Connor incorporates the use of macabre and violence in her short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” masterfully to elicit an unforgettable moment of grace from a character when faced with her “grave” circumstance. The use of grotesque violence is vividly displayed as a southern family is horrendously murdered by an escaped convict, The Misfit and his accomplices. An “eerie” sense of foreshadowing is realized when the protagonist, the grandmother...
Words: 1211 - Pages: 5
...“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’connor is a short story about a family whose vacation trip turns quickly into a tragical experience when meeting a runaway criminal known as the Misfit. The story mainly focuses on the definition of a “good man”, by exploring this the story reveals the gender roles that are being played in the story. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” shows how women are being treated and are portrayed in the story. The female characters in the story demonstrate how a woman should dress and act in ordered to be considered “good” to a “good man”. According to society, a couple of the many expectations of a women is being understanding and submissive; In O’connor’s story, the grandmother demonstrates these qualities when...
Words: 1052 - Pages: 5
...in A good Man Is Hard to find In Flannery O Connors southern gothic short story, “a good man is hard to find” the protagonists that are presented seem to be in a gloomy and fragile relationship in what seems to be your cliché American family. The family as you would expect from O’Connor’s writing is in its own way corrupt and what many catholic enthusiasts would say, need Jesus. The Grandmother being the worst case of them all and in the story shows examples of gluttony and lust, two major sins in the Roman Catholic faith. These sins are the eventual downfall of the entire family. This essay will view the repercussions that occur for lathering in a life of sin and argue that salvation can be disguised in many ways even as malicious at times. It will utilize research directly from the psychoanalytic concept, traumas, and realizations of the few characters who get passed they’re own demons and come to a self-religious realization. Additionally, the essay will pursue the relationships between the grandmother, the misfit, and the son, John Wesley and his Mother and their last minute, virtuous moments right before Gods jurisdiction is handed upon them. John Wesley realizes that his actions anytime before that moment were inexcusable towards his mother, but now it is too late as he is murdered in the woods and the grandmother’s having her salvation just before the Misfit eradicates her as well. Annotated Bibliography Yao, Tianyuan Ben. "A Test of Faith: Analysis on “A Good Man...
Words: 1174 - Pages: 5
...2/21/2015 2/21/2015 James Turner Philosophy-1101 James Turner Philosophy-1101 Philosophy of Life And Other Essays By. B.J. Gupta Philosophy of Life And Other Essays By. B.J. Gupta B.J. Gupta gets right to the point in his book “Philosophy of life”. He does not use outlandish sentences and problematical paragraphs to explain what he is saying. The book starts out by his explanations of philosophy, and Gupta gives two examples of what philosophy meant in the past and what it means nowadays. Back when philosophy was developed a philosopher had been considered a thinker, and it did not matter on what subject. Nowadays, a philosopher is a thinker of non-materialistic subjects like knowledge. Those subjects like science, history, and economics have their own sets of thinkers labelled scientist, historian, economist etc. Gupta is saying that philosophy used to touch on many subjects, and even though these other subjects are not called philosophy, philosophy is in their DNA and always will be. (Gupta, p. 1) Then Gupta gives an example of “Philosophy of Life” he got of the internet, which is “Any philosophical view or vision of the nature or purpose of life or of the way that life should be lived”. (Random House, Inc., 2015) He does not give his own definition on the subject, but he does go on explaining that everyone has his or her own outlook on the philosophy of life, you do not have to be a philosopher to have an opinion on the matter. Some outlooks...
Words: 3060 - Pages: 13
...Debra Bronstein English 1B Short Story Essay Prompt Essay Due: Monday 10/15 at the beginning of class (100 points) Please write a 4-5 page essay. All papers should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New Roman), with one-inch margins. All papers must analyze how the rhetorical/formal/symbolic/narrative elements of the short story contribute to your understanding of the text. Please review these terms from your literary terms quiz and your class notes to remind yourself how authors deploy them in the stories. Please choose one of the following topics. Note: I ask a lot of questions within each of the topics because I want to give you many options to consider; however, this does not mean that you have to answer all the sub-questions. Use them as guides to jumpstart your thinking. 1. Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Jewett’s “A White Heron,” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” track a particular symbol throughout the short story. Focusing on one of these stories, show how the author uses the development of the symbol in order to reflect the demise or spiritual growth of the main characters. Hint: for “The Things They Carried, you can focus on the word carry rather than on a specific individual symbol. 2. Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both narrated by unreliable narrators who go crazy. Focusing on one of these stories, how does the author portray insanity...
Words: 879 - Pages: 4
