...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...
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...“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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...Emily Nole Professor Bruce Poteet English 161 4 November 2014 “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” and “Good Country People” Literary Analysis Flannery O’Connor’s works are perfect examples of distortional point of view, and literary irony. Through her work “Good Country People,” O’Connor uses her humor and uses distortional point of view through her characters Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell, and Mrs. Freeman to “humble and expose the biases of the overly intellectual and spiritual bankrupt.” Through her work “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” O’Connor uses her humor and uses distortional point of view to convey and emphasize that we each experience reality, however distorted, through the unique, sometime morally-distorted lens of individual perception, through...
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...A Good Man Is Hard To Find literary analysis Tracy Wooten Elizabeth Isenkul February 20, 2016 A good man is hard to find is short story written by Flannery O’ Connor. Throughout the entire story O’Connor utilizes irony as a literary element to create multiple facets of her characters in the story such as those of Bailey's mother and The Misfit. O'Connor establishes the foundation of the irony very early in the story when she gives us the reason for the grandmother getting dressed up for the car ride, “In case of an accident anyone seeing the dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (O’Connor, 1993) . Later on in the story this could considered foreshadowing. Throughout the entire story the grandmother judges people either as good or bad solely based on how they look. For example, the first time the reader sees the phrase "A good man is hard to find," the speaker is Red Sam at the roadside barbecue restaurant where the family is having lunch. Just before that, however, Red Sam has described his willingness to allow some strangers to charge gas, and he asks himself the question, "Now, why did I do that?" (O’Connor, 1993). The grandmother's immediate response is "Because you're a good man." (O’ Connor, 1993). She makes this assessment with very little information about Red Sam, not on the basis of any meaningful knowledge about his character. When the grandmother is first introduced to the misfit, she makes one of those same judgments of him because...
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...Literary Analysis Paper Flannery O’Connor is without a doubt one of the most influential renowned writers has earned her to be one of the top Literary Writers of have came out of the South. She is mostly known for her intense and jaw dropping stories on mystery and violence, to show a type of representation of salvation through obscure stories like “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”; which was still till this very day of the best known stories O’Connor has wrote in a long time. The story as a whole represents the ethics the self-righteousness grandmother in the family that had been surprised by this so called spiritual awareness by this unknown murder, which goes by the name of The Misfit, who had posses the action of committing a murderous spree...
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...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...
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...The Irony in Flannery O’Connor’s Irony is a significant rhetorical technique used in demonstrating a condition which is conflicting or expression whereby the result is the exact opposite of what is anticipated. This device of literature creates absurdity in the story according to its tone. Irony has an element of indirectness hence making the writing interesting to the reader. In the story of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Irony has aided deeper comprehension and understanding of its themes as it provokes the readers making them to critically analyze the state, paralleling and distinguishing the actual condition with assumptions as explained in the paper. Use of irony is imbued in this work as it is a principal feature in her lifetime and limited career. She dwelt mostly in Georgia as one of the minor Catholic emphatic. What is amusing is that, she spent most of her lifetime in struggle and met her death immediately it was ripe for her to start enjoying life. At such time it is expected that people should get time in life so that they can enjoy and do whatever they had in mind but they have never got the opportunity or power to do them. It is ironical that, she becomes popular and passes away before she is rewarded for her determination and hard work. The family plans to go to Florida except the grandmother who wants to go to Tennessee. She tries to convince the family by telling them that there is Misfit, the murderer on the way to Florida but they give her...
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...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...
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...Emily Carlson April 18, 2011 Literature 12 Senior Paper on A Good Man Is Hard to Find Week 29 Day 1 Flannery O’Connor was a Catholic writer who was born in 1925, in Savannah, Georgia, and died in 1964. She was well known for her writings about the darker side of humanity. While O’Connor’s stories were often gritty and disturbing to read, they always embodied aspects of grace. O'Connor often depicted salvation through shocking, and violent experiences of her characters. Flannery O’Connor focuses on man’s fallen nature, but at the same time inspires the reader to consider the moments of grace that are offered to everyone. Some individuals recognize and accept this free gift of grace, while others ignore it. Evidence and analysis of the grace offered to the two main characters will be presented in this study of “A Good Man Is Hard to find”, written in 1953. The story is about an unpleasant family who plans a car trip to Florida from their hometown in Georgia. The reader is introduced to the spiteful and manipulative grandmother, her disconnected son, Bailey, his passive wife and baby, and their two older, hard-to-please children, June Star and John Wesley. The grandmother wants to go to Tennessee instead of Florida, so she tells her family about and escaped convict she read about in the news paper to scare them away from going to Florida. Bailey refuses to switch routes and tells her it is nonsense, and the family settles into the car. While on the trip, the children...
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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...
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...Through the analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s works “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” the distinct similarity of class can be distinguished between the grandmother of the family and Julian’s mother. The two characters share the static notions of how each class is represented in regards to race and propriety through the racist southern traditions which they were raised. In “Good,” the grandmother of the family is viewed as an older woman who clings to racism and traditional southern standards which dictated how a person was to act due to the social class which they belong. The grandmother’s static belief that race and class are joined becomes apparent during the scene when the family passes the Negro child on the side of the road which states, “‘Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!’ she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack. ‘Wouldn’t that make a picture, now?’ she asked and they all turned and looked at the little Negro out of the back window. He Waved. ‘He didn’t have any britches on,’ June Star said. ‘He Probably didn’t have any,’ the grandmother explained. ‘Little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do. If I could paint, I’d paint that picture,’ she said” (O’Connor, “Good” 3) In this scene, the grandmother objectifies the Negro child as if he were a caged animal to watch and then she classifies him as a lower class because he is a Negro and therefore must unable to afford pants. The objectification...
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...Colorado Technical University Gayla Burow Comparison Contrast Essay of Short Stories This paper is to analysis two short stories “A Good Man is hard to find” and “Love in LA”. Both of these stories have some common similarities, however, seem to be different eras in time. It seems that both were summer when the stories took place, both mention too of course be on a highway at some point in the stories. In both of the stories, there are accidents, one being much harsher than the other, one being a fender bender the other left the family bleeding with broken bones. I felt that most of the characters seemed to be very selfish with only thoughts of themselves. The setting for Love in La is Jake daydreaming about a better car than the one he owns and is why he hits the other character in the stories in the first place. The setting in “A Good Man is Hard” to find, takes place in Georgia mostly told through the grandmother's eyes. It seems she wants to go to Tennessee and her son wanted to go to Florida. She did not get her way even with all the whining about the misfits on the loose. After the cat causes a car crash the family comes across the Misfits, and the grandmother seems to use her faith to save herself and her family from death Characters Jake seems to be a very lazy self-centered nature, he is most defiantly a protagonist in this story. Jake is a dishonest man and does not want to take the blame for the car crash. He is willing to lie about who he is and give a false...
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...will be the best literary analysis for the 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...
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...Catalyst For Characters to Change This paper is based on Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, a short story. The theme for this research paper will be an analysis of the key characters in the story that are affected and changed by an encounter with death, with a near-death occurrence. The reason for this theme is to bring some significant insights into the literary work in a profound way. The grandmother and the Misfit are chosen to establish the theme in the paper. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, death is a catalyst for characters to change; some characters are changed positively by their experience with death, while other characters are changed negatively. The Misfit shows why he became evil because his expectation of goodness in the society was put to death by the reality of injustice. In a polite tone, the Misfit explains to the grandmother, “I found out the crime don’t matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car“ (O’Connor 194). This opinion comes from the Misfit serving his lengthy time in jail where he experienced harsh prejudices. The Misfit continues to explain to the grandmother calmly, then came a “piercing scream” from the wood background where the Misfit ordered the grandmother’s family to be killed. Suddenly, Misfit’s tone turned nasty, “Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another ain’t punished at all” (O’Connor 195)? This scene depicts the Misfit’s true personality; his...
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...Ruth Boro Professor Hernandez ENGL 1302-71701 30 Nov. 2016 Literary Analysis of a Good Man is Hard to Find. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor. The exposition of the story is a family from Atlanta preparing to travel to Florida for three days. The grandmother does not want to go to Florida because there is a criminal, the Misfit, aloose from the Federal Pen heading to Florida and she thinks that it is dangerous to for the family to head to Florida. The Grandmother tries to manipulate the son, Bailey to change the destination, and she prefers Tennes-see because she has connections there. The central purpose of the story is to show the rivalry between good and evil. According to an article by Alex Link,...
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