Example research essay topic: Good Man Is Hard Man Is Hard To Find - 1,682 words

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Flannery O'Connor Details All of these O'Connor stories employ a third person narrator, though with greatly varying degrees of "limited-omniscient" insight into the protagonist's psyche. How do the marked differences in this aspect influence your reader-responses to "The Turkey" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find"? How do the tones of these stories compare / contrast ? What do you think is "chasing" Rules at the end of "Turkey"? Why does the Misfit in "A Good Man" say, "she would of been a good woman... if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life"?

Write an essay responding to some of these questions. Pages 2 Sources 2 Style MLA Level 4 YC I think that Flannery Oconnor'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. Oconnor, herself being a strong believer in Christianity, probably thought that writing this story will help make people who arent 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 1940 s.

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 isnt 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 Gods ways and have their redemption. Christians have often criticized her works for being immoral but in actuality she uses these extreme situations and portrayals to express the power of God in a positive light. The immoral character of the Misfit is very skillfully portrayed, as is the enlightened character of Grandma. Most of the characters in A Good Man is Hard to Find and, probably her other works, go through some kind of metamorphosis, a change in their views of the world and in their perceptions about life and death. Such character in this particular story is Grandma and, in my opinion, the Misfit.

I think that the Misfit is constantly experiencing a deep inner struggle and this is revealed in his conversation with Grandma. Of course, Oconnor skillful portrayal of his helps the reader to detect some obscure details of the Misfits behavior, which are key elements in determining the Misfits state of mind. Those details are his gestures, his speech, and his thoughts. Maybe, in a way, the Misfit represents the new generation of young and religiously misguided people, and Grandma symbolizes the old generation, which has grown somewhat distanced from religion. In my opinion this is a take on the missionary concept. Someone in the storyline is converted to stronger faith in God, and also there is a form of conversion of the reader by the author.

Flannery OConnor probably hoped to provoke her readers and to make them re-consider their own spiritual notions and ideals. All said, A Good Man is Hard to Find is an exceptionally well-written short story with both tension and provoking religious content. The ending doesnt come as much of a surprise, though, it still is good for a short story. The plot may be a bit illogical when given more thought, but overall this is an exciting and interesting work, which can be enjoyed by non-Christian readers as well. A Good Man Is Hard To Find In the story A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery OConnor attempt to show her readers of the error of their humanistic assumptions and their limitless need for Gods grace.

She does this through the implicit comparison of a little old lady and a serial killer, the Misfit. Most reader would assume that the old woman should represents a qualified sort of goodness and the Misfit represent evil; I, however, would hold precisely the reverse. Most reader would contend that the old woman represents life and the Misfit death; again, I would hold the opposite, believing that the old womans grace-less life was a living death, and that through the Misfit she gained a chance of attaining salvation. The story opens as the little old ladys family is planning to leave on a vacation.

But there is nothing sweet about this domestic scene; neither the old woman nor her grown son, Bailey, are able to command any respect from Baileys impudent children, and we sense a tension between the strong-willed Bailey and his tremendously self-righteous mother. The grandmother tries unsuccessfully to convince Bailey that hey ought to visit her relations in East Tennessee, and failing this, she bring her cat along on the Florida trip, despite the fact that she knows how much the cat annoys Bailey. The rest of the family is no improvement; Baileys wife is a non-entity, as is the baby, and the two older children are simply brats. The family is out of sync with themselves, and, perhaps out of sync with God. Nevertheless, throughout the story the grandmother repeatedly talks about goodness. On the trip, she is exquisitely dressed, because In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once she was a lady (OConnor, 854).

She identifies this gentility as a quality that is past, and which is symbolized by an old plantation she is trying to direct the family back to see. Thus she has expressed her longing to find the Good Old Time in two ways: first to visit her relatives in East Tennessee, and then to visit the homestead that symbolizes the grace and loveliness of her romanticized past. However, as she mentioned, the plantation is already Gone With the Wind (OConnor, 855) and become burying ground with six graves fenced in the middle of it (OConnor, 855). It is her mistaken to lead the family into the plantation where eventually become the graveyard of the family. In order for Grandma to achieve her selfish want, she lied to the child. Grandma points Bailey down an old country road that she believes will take them to the old plantation, and there they swerve off the road, only to be rescued by the party of a serial killer.

This is, of course, deeply symbolic. The grandmother, in her eagerness to impress upon her Goodness of the Past, ironically shows the legacy she have really lost -- their awareness of god. She is under the mistaken opinion that being well-dressed and respectable is next to Godliness, when in fact her dishonesty and selfishness demonstrated the true evil. Obviously, she does not believe in god. Because God wants to draw his strayed sheep back to himself, one way or the other, he causes this misguided family to cross paths with a Misfit.

A misfit is a person who does not fit into contemporary society; Christ, of course, did not fit into contemporary society. Just as the grandmother represent empty propriety, the Misfit represents the antithesis of that, and the antithesis is God. Despite her endless ranting about goodness and propriety, the old lady only understands what we in our modernity have substituted for grace, which is manner. At the very end, after the grandmother knows that the Misfits henchmen have killed her son, her daughter-in-law, and her three grandchildren, the old womans only thought is to try to offer the Misfit monkey to convince him not to kill her. She doesnt care about Bailey, or his wife, or the three children. As Misfit says, If he did what he said, then its nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow him (OConnor, 863).

In other words, the old woman should throw away her obsession with appearances and conventionality, and claim that which has real value. Then the Misfit adds, and if Jesus didnt do what he said, then its nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him (OConnor, 863). In effect, he has said that if the grandmother is not able to truly believe in God, then she might as well throw all manner of propriety to the winds, and go out and become a serial killer. Without the ability to be honest, generous and love, the propriety means nothing. This is where the epiphany happened. Just before the Misfit kills her, the grandmother suddenly looks at her executioner in a whole new way: Why, youre one of my babies! (OConnor, 863) What does this mean?

For the first time in her life, the old woman has cut through the type we tend to substitute for religion and recognized that true religion is defined, not in appearances or protestations of piety, but in the actuality of our relationship to God. She sees in that instant that the enormity of her sin her ignorance, and her complacent rejection, of God is such that in Gods eyes the serial killer is no different than she is. Throughout the second half of the story, after she meets the Misfit and things turn dangerous, the grandmother has referred to Christ and to prayer a number of times, but it is only as she herself is returned to God that she recognizes the reality of his handiwork. As the grandmother died half sat and...

Research essay sample on Good Man Is Hard Man Is Hard To Find