...“A Good Man is Hard to Find” How old does one need to be to die and how old is too old to profess one’s faith and receive salvation? What does it take to have salvation and eternal life and how does one show that in a work of literature? In the process of all of the chronological references and religious symbolism, Flannery O’Connor in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” addresses this and draws a parallel to the modern moral dilemma of what it takes to be saved. Written in 1953 and based upon her Roman Catholicism roots, O’Connor conveys how each family member gracefully accepts the previous generation’s quirkiness and cynicism to maintain family unit. Although the younger generations do not respect older ones as much as their parents, her stories have characters that convey her message of religious distrust through each character’s deceptive actions and secular thoughts. Similarly, most of O’Connor’s stories make reference to the good and bad by such subtleness as creatively naming the kids after an outlaw and a founder of a major religion. By such obscurity, she wants to draw a parallel between the true believer and the hypocrites that appear to be religious in actions (May). Like a mirror’s reflection, O’Connor’s story contains several undertones of grace in how the characters are developed in the story. From the grandmother to the Misfit, there is a “forewarning of mortal death in the story as the family travels on their last trip before meeting the Misfit that carries...
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...I think that Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is written partially in order to “convert” people who have not yet fully accepted the Christian faith. O’Conner, herself being a strong believer in Christianity, probably thought that writing this story will help make people who aren’t really living by the Christian rules to seriously consider doing so. Flannery O'Connor was deeply concerned with the values and the direction of the youth at the time. She believed that Christ was no longer enough of a priority to the people of her generation. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is representative of Flannery O'Connor's concern for the priorities and values of the 1940s. An example of this, in "A Good Man is Hard to Find," involves the grandmother's strong, southern heritage. She dresses with the intention that anyone who finds her dead on the road will know she was a lady, and she is always telling stories of southern gentlemen courting her. Then, the Misfit, whom she "knows" is of quality, southern blood, shoots her and her family, despite her belief in southern hospitality. Grandma is a woman who believes in God, but it seems that her belief isn’t really strong up until her confrontation with the Misfit. From what I understand, most of her works follow a similar pattern. The main character(s) are in some kind of trouble and at the end they see “the light” of God’s ways and have their redemption. Christians have often criticized her works for...
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...Fiction Assignment In A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Connor displays to us the theme of an unsympathetic character that is surprisingly touched when one of his victims of his senseless crimes tries to convert him and persuade him to not kill her. With O’Connor’s Catholic influenced writing, a closer look through the short story shows the theme of unlikely, undeserving characters finally understanding the error of their ways and knowing that they could change, through the help and belief of religion. At the end of the story we see irony along with a sort of justice to the killing of the grandmother, who led her family down on a trip to their death because she was insistent of reliving and glorifying the former times. We also see the Misfit find out that there is no pleasure in his way of life, which makes him reflect on how different his life could have been. The first example of the Grandmother’s ability to compare and contrast the present time she is in and the ways of the past is in the backseat of the car with her grandchildren. When her grandson says that he wishes to get through their home state, Georgia, quickly, the grandmother admonishes him by telling him that children were more respectful of their states and parents. This seems to have little effect on the two disrespectful children. Further along the vacation, the family goes to The Tower for lunch. The place is run by a man named Red Sammy, whom advertises his restaurant by appealing to people just like the grandmother...
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...A Good Man is Hard to Find Flannery O' Connor's story: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is built upon irony. The main character, the grandmother, is an extremely ironic person. The author uses grandmother to express many forms of irony. Grandmother sees herself as a very innocent, caring person but she is actually a quite deceitful figure who embellishes stories and tells falsehoods to get what she wants. An example of verbal irony from grandmother is when she wants to go to Tennessee not Florida; so she makes sure to remind her family that “An enraged killer, The Misfit,” was preying upon people in Florida. Although, later in the story she is begging for her life, telling “The Misfit” that he seems like a good man, and one that was brought up with good intentions. Grandmother finally agrees to go on the trip, but she sneaks her cat, Pitty Sing along, because she knows her son wouldn’t allow the cat to be cooped up in a motel for three days. With this cat, comes an extreme example of situational irony. As she brought the cat along for good purposes, the cat brings with it peril. As grandmother thinks of a terrible memory, she flinches and the cat flings out of her arms hitting the driver, grandmother’s son Bailey, and causing the car to spin out of control. Shockingly, all are left alive with no major injuries, but the car will not start. Grandmother waves down a black “hearse-like automobile”, which is ironic, because hearses are what bring dead...
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...A Good Man Is Hard To Find Kimberly Samuel A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor In Flannery O’ Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find, the main character is the grandmother’s character is displayed by her reactions and conversations with various characters throughout the story. Through her conversation with Bailey, her son, John Wesley and June Star, her grandchildren, and the Misfit killer. These conversations state the fact that she is from a traditional background and her attitude alternates to fit the surroundings that she is in. The grandmother loses her capacity to comprehend what state of mind that she wants to be in. Throughout the entire story the author utilizes a strong sense of foreshadowing for the people and for the events that occur. O’Connor uses this technique three times in the story, describing the grandmother’s dress, the family’s death, and the grandmother’s conversation with the Misfit Killer. The story starts out with the grandmother being uncomfortable about the family’s upcoming trip to Florida from Georgia. She tries to force Bailey to rethink the entire trip by telling him about what she has read in the newspaper. “Here this fellow that calls himself the Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen…and read what it says he did with these people…I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (O’Connor, 2008). Her pleading for the cancellation did not go well and the family prepared to leave the next day....
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...“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...
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...Lesson Plan for 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...
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...Monika Allen Catharine Vickers Composition and introduction to Lit- 9 February 2016 Who is Deceiving Who? In the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Conner is a very detailed writer that loves dialogue. She made the grandmother the main character that dressed well for age and is a crucial character in the story. She is the one who wanted to go to the plantation; she wanted to bring her little kitty cat that jumps out of the suitcase, which causes the accident on the dirt road. How the family encounters the criminal "Misfit" and his cohorts, someone could argue that the grandmother is the real "misfit". How is the grandmother herself a misfit in the story? Should the grandmother be accounted for being a “misfit?” The Grandmother, Baily, his wife, and three kids wanted to go on a trip. Everyone but the grandmother wanted to go to Florida. They end up going to Tennessee and end up running into three bad people the leader is named the “Misfit”. He and his crew killed the entire family just because the grandmother knew him from the paper that she was reading that very morning. Some may say it was the grandmothers fault why the all got killed because if she didn’t want go to Tennessee the little family wouldn’t have ran into the misfit. If the grandmother didn’t want to go down the dirt road that she thought would lead them to and old house that was never there, and if she didn’t bring the cat that popped out and scared Bailey (the driver) the car would not have...
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...A Good Man is Hard to Find. The grandmother focuses of showing that she cares nothing about the family by concerning herself with her hat. She builds a setting in her head that if she dies she will look like a lady without any concern for her family's well being. This idea that her hat, which makes her look like a lady in her mind, is more important than her family shows selfishness. Her mistaken ethics are aware from the beginning as the hat is the symbol for this negligence to her family. When they did indeed have a car wreck the grandmother was curled up under the dashboard with her hat still attached to her head. The hat represents that goal of still being a lady no matter the cost. While her grand children are in shock and shaking she is complaining that she thinks she has a hurt organ. The symbol of the brim of her hat smashed as she says “But nobody’s killed” in a frustrated tone shows her reluctance to give up that she was wrong. She will not give up this attempt at being a lady no matter what happens to her or grand children. As she confronts the Misfit her self assurance and idea that she is a lady slowly disintegrates away as she becomes more humble that she will most likely die. The symbolism of these disintegration is when her brim actually falls off of her hat and it realization that she is not a lady by any means. The symbolism of the hat to her concept of doing anything by any means necessary to be a considered a lady by everyone including herself is quite...
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...A Good Man Is Hard to Find” was written by Flannery O’Conner, and her deep religious beliefs are shown in this short story. The beginning of the story starts with a quote by St. Cyril of Jerusalem who was one of the first theologians of the early church. “The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” This quote references how the devil sits by the side of the road distracting people from God in their walk through life. O’Conner’s story revolves around one family that had become self-absorbed. Their grandma tried to warn them of their fate and feebly tried to get them to change their focus in life. Unfortunately, her clouded judgment led them to the dragon by the side of the road known as “The Misfit,” who was in fact a devil laying in wait and judging which individuals may pass. The story does not go into detail of the horrible things the Misfit had done in the past, but only the details of how he killed the family after their car accident. Interesting enough, he mirrors St. Cyril’s dragon and devours this family. His whole approach to the accident shows the lack of care for others. He did not rush to help, ask if anyone was injured, or offer to help – he appeared to be summing up their actions toward one another and their attitude toward life. What he saw was the fathers disrespect for his mother, the children’s self-centeredness, and the wife’s...
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...A Good Man Is Hard to Fine: An Annotated Bibliography HUDDLE,DAVID. “The Singular Voice of Flannery O'Connor”. Flannery O'Connor Review. Vol. 13. 2015. p30-39. Huddle describes O’Connor as one of America’s major writers. She writes about issues within southern culture and has spiritual revelations. He compares O’Connor to The Misfit in the story. O’Connor is an artist, a Catholic and a Southern Woman. She uses her traits to build upon the characters of the story. They refer to the Grandmother as a flawed human being. Religion is very important. When the Grandmother reaches out to the Misfit with her religious comment she startles him and he kills her. Even as a villain after killing the Grandmother he is looking for redemption. Larson, Susan T. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find and Other Short Stories”. Masterplots. 4th Edition. Nov. 2010. p1-2. O’Connor is recognized as a significance American fiction writer. The story A Good Man Is Hard To Find has a mixture of humor, violence and religious themes. The Grandmother and family set off to take a trip to Florida. The Grandmother did not want to go there, she wanted to go to Tennessee. She used the story of the Misfits escape but the trip was still on. While traveling the Grandmother disrupts the cat which then causes an accident. A car stops and when the men get out the Grandmother recognizes him as the Misfit. He orders the men with him to kill the family. The Misfit is with the Grandmother and she is trying to...
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...Is A Good Man That Hard To Find? I feel that O'Connor's story fits well with her statement about the South being "Christ-haunted." In fact, I feel that the Misfit, whom at first appeared to me to be a ruthless, sadistic murderer, actually ended up being even more of a 'good person' than any of the members of Bailey's family. I will analyze certain statements made in the story to make my point feasible. “The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled.” First off, it is pretty obvious to me that the "silver-white sunlight" is supposed to be imagery the reader associates with Heaven. Beyond that, I feel there are two possible meanings to it as a whole, depending on how you interpret the meaning of the word "meanest": either they are being portrayed as cruel, or they are being portrayed as average. In the first case, the trees could almost be approximated with the Misfit in the role of Jesus. In the second case, the trees could be representative of Bailey's family. “They passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it, like a small island.” It just so happens that the Bailey family has six members: Bailey, his wife, his mother, and his three children. I feel this is an allusion to the fact that they're going to die later on. The bit about the island may also be significant. In the end, they seemed to be stranded, trapped, and surrounded on all sides by the Misfit and his men, just like an island is surrounded by water...
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...A Good Man Is Hard to Find Flannery O’Connor’s short story ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ reveals a harsh, yet realistic view of the world by using three literary elements: foreshadowing, irony, and character. O’Connor begins the story with a mere family vacation. The story seems so simple and innocent, that the deeper meaning is often not recognizable at first. As the story develops the darkness of the plot is revealed to the reader. Overall, the stories three literary elements tie the stories theme together, which is prejudice, religion, and violence. Foreshadowing is an important element that is used several times throughout the story. O’Connor begins the story by foreshadowing the Misfit; a convict who has escaped from the federal penitentiary. It is important that he is mentioned because he eventually ends up murdering the family. The next element of foreshadowing takes place when the family is getting in the car, preparing to head toward their vacation. The grandmother has over dressed herself for the car ride. She is wearing a navy blue, polka dotted dress trimmed with lace and violets. She said that, “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead will know that she was a lady.” This statement clearly foretells that something tragic is going to take place. As the family rides along in the car they pass a cotton field with five or six graves in the middle of it. Once again there is an indication of death approaching the family. After the family’s car accident, a car...
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...A Good Man Is Hard to Find The meaning of the word foreshadow is to indicate or show beforehand. The author uses foreshadowing to hint to the reader on what is to come. This can also be subtle, and sometimes overlooked. A careful reader might be able to anticipate the ending by paying attention to the context clues, dialogue among characters, and the major aspects of the plot. In the beginning of the story, the author states that grandmother does not want to go to Florida. In addition, in the opening of the story, the grandmother is reading a newspaper article about an escaped prisoner named The Misfit that is headed to Florida. The grandmother then continues to state that she would never take her children into the direction of an escaped criminal. Her worries and complaints were taken lightly as the family packed into their vehicle and headed to Florida. While stopped in Georgia, the family stops at a restaurant to eat and engage in conversation with the owner. While on the topic of The Misfit, the owner’s wife says: “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t attact this place right here” (205). After leaving the restaurant, things start to take a turn for the worse. The family gets into a car accident on a secluded road on the way to an old plantation. Moments later, a car emerged slowly as if the occupants were watching them. When the three occupants get out of the car, “the grandmother had the feeling that the bespectacled man was someone that she knew “(207). Later...
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...Student Name: Danielle Bond Story Title and Year Published: A Good Man is Hard to Find, 1953 Author and Years Lived: Flannery O’Connor, 39 Years Historical, cultural and/or political contexts affecting this author and his/her work: Flannery O’Connor was born and raised in Georgia. She was a Roman Catholic who grew up in the “bible belt” city of Savannah. She also lived in New York State, Iowa and Connecticut at different times in her adult life but returned to Georgia after having her first attack of lupus. She lived her remaining years in Georgia. Her religious background comes through in this story as well as her southern roots in both the location and the way the characters speak. Central Character, with brief description: The grandmother is an eccentric woman who is outgoing and very talkative. She lives with her son Bailey and his family. She is at times manipulative of her son to get what she wants. Other Characters, with brief descriptions: Bailey is the son of the main character. He is quiet and tries to be patient with his mother but doesn’t succeed. He attempts to maintain control and not give in to his mother’s manipulations. John Wesley is the eight year old son of Bailey and his wife. He is sarcastic and obnoxious much like his sister June Star. June Star is the daughter of Bailey and his wife. With a sour attitude and sarcastic tone, she is the more annoying of the two children. Bailey’s wife (and mother of the children) is unnamed in the story...
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