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A very interesting writer of the middle of the last century Flannery OConnor in many of her works uses the third person approach to the narratives of her stories. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is representative of Flannery O'Connor's concern for the priorities and values of the 1940 s. This particularly interesting story tells the reader about an old lady who is probably very good in the depth of her soul but appears very wicked and selfish to the surrounding people. The grandmother (this old lady) has a strong, southern heritage, and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants and she doesn't let anyone else's feelings stand in her way. The grandmother is a manipulative, deceitful, and self-serving woman who lives in the past.
She tries to justify her demands by convincing herself and her family that her way is not only the best way, but the only way. The story begins when grandmother introduces the reader to the character named Misfit, as she reads from the newspaper, Here is this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is almost from the Federal pen and headed toward Florida. Grandmother is trying to manipulate the plans of the trip by pointing this out to her son, Bailey. Bailey didnt look up from his reading so she wheeled around then and faced the childrens mother.
This is the first introduction to the mother in the story, who appears throughout the story to be indifferent to everything going on around her. However, grandmother does not do it all only with the purpose of spoiling everything, her intent is simply to do the things just like it is done the last time in the life. Heroine strongly believes that in the case when death comes the person should always be waiting for it and be prepared. She always wanted to meet the last day of her life as a lady.
Thats why she always wear her best dresses and says: In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady (466). When looking at the story as a whole, it is apparent that the grandmother thinks it is more important to be known as a lady, rather than as a good person. Throughout the story, the grandmother rambles on about the sites to the family, who for the most part ignore her. She is full of self-importance and pride in her stories, with tones of racism showing up. It becomes evident that A Good Man is Hard to Find not just a simple story about grandmother and her views on good and evil when the character of Misfit is introduced the second time. The grandmother recognizes him as the Misfit she had read about in the paper.
He appears to be polite and sociable, even as he is having Bailey and John Wesley taken into the woods to be executed. The mother, June Star (one of her children), and the baby are next, and the grandmother is the last one left, leading to the Misfit and her engaging in a conversation that is the heart of this story (476 - 477). He has revealed to the grandmother that he was the type of child who questioned everything, wanted proof of the existence of things. He is calm until grandmother tells him to pray. At this point she found that she had lost her voice. and OConnor further set this scene, There was not a cloud in the sky nor any sun.
The spiritual emptiness of the grandmother is felt in these words. The fact that the Misfit even questions religion suggests a belief, a wondering sense of searching. He is frustrated by not knowing the answers, when he says, He thrown everything off balance, referring to Jesus rising from the dead. If he (the Misfit) would have been there, he would have known the answers and not been the way he is.
The Misfit shows his religion and beliefs to be very deep and reveals grandmothers beliefs to be superficial. When her world is stripped away, she finally understands, as she reaches for the Misfit, Why youre one of my babies (478). She has her moment and then is shot. Ironically she understands the full meaning of her beliefs for only a brief time.
She would have been a good woman, The Misfit said, if it been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life. I think that these words reveal the whole idea of the story. People become what they truly are only when there is nothing left to lose and no need for faking is existent any more. The approaching death is the case, and it happens in every persons life. The grandmother's life ends at this time and she never realized that she held everything dear to her at home.
The Misfit guides her to a place where she is a good person (as opposed to a lady), and so in this way is a good man. Here is the paradox of the story, finding goodness in evil. Oconnor's story portrays the American family at its worst, and views superficial religion as an emptiness, even a death. The Misfit, in all his self justified evilness, was a more spiritual person than the grandmother, who lived in the rigid tradition of the south.
The characterization of these two characters reminds me of quote (author unknown) that I know, and have used to justify my own search for spirituality. Religion is for those who are afraid of going to Hell, Spirituality is for those who have been there. Reference: OConnor, Flannery. A Good Man is a Hard to Find.
Harcourt, 1992.
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