Throughout Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, the theme of “the journey” is apparent in both the physical and spiritual sense. The characters in both stories travel, but the lessons they learn on their journeys are more compelling. One of the key characters in O’Conner’s short story is the grandmother. The grandmother is a character filled with judgment and selfishness. However, these flaws came to a halt moments before her death, highlighting her sudden spiritual redemption. Similarly, the narrator of Till We Have Faces, Oral, undergoes a profound journey of self-reflection. Oral, like the grandmother, was bitter, jealous, and possessive. However, late in her life, as Orual begins to address her past, she recognizes her mistakes. While the physical journey of these …show more content…
You are the answer” (Lewis). When she is talking about the first book, she is referring to her retelling of all of the events that occurred up until she was made queen. She retold these events with bitterness, complaining and making the reader feel almost sorry for her. However, here, she admits that all along she had been in the wrong. This introspection shows her marked growth, as she not only acknowledges her mistakes but also humbly concedes that the gods are above her. In both “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, the physical journeys of the grandmother and Oral serve as the vehicle for their spiritual growth. The grandmother begins as self-righteous and manipulative, but concludes her life with an abrupt spiritual transformation. Similarly, Orual's journey is marked with terrible flaws, including bitterness, possessiveness, and jealousy. Oral undergoes a gradual transformation, culminating in profound introspection and growth. While the timelines of the two characters' journeys are drastically different, both characters experience dramatic changes of