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When people encounter replies that are too harsh, they often try to escape to a fantasy world that is more comforting. In stories, children are always escaping, whether it is to a secret garden or down a rabbit hole to Alice's Wonderland. In Flannery Oconnor's triad of short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Everything that Rises Must Converge, she uses characterization, setting, and ironic tone, to help the reader understand that fleeing from lifes consequences can lead to dangerous outcomes, both psychologically and physically. In one way or another all of the protagonists think that they are superior to others. This trait impedes any real engagement with reality. Hulga, in the short story Good Country People, believes that she is intellectually superior to her mother, housekeeper and the townspeople.
Although, she has a Ph. D in Philosophy, her philosophy on life is rather pathetic. She believes in nothing but her own belief in nothing. Although she thought, she could smell the stupidity of young men and was face to face with real innocence, she is the one who ends up being taken advantage of.
In Everything that Rises Must Converge, Julian's mother refuses to believe that her grandfathers plantation with 200 slaves does not have any social significance in the next generation. She feels that blacks were better off when they were slaves, they should rise, yes, but on their own side of the fence. Amusingly, she claims Julian, doesnt know a thing about life, he hasnt even entered the real world. Simply because she is an older woman and has white skin his mother seems to think that she is Gods gift to the world and should give everyone below her a bright new penny. The grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find, is superficial and manipulative. She thinks that, because she is old and loves her family, she can get what she wants in life.
When the Misfit begins his shooting rampage, she says youve got good blood, I know youre a good man, as if her reassurance will change his mind. Another trait that all of the main characters share is their fearfulness. Hulga is scared of happiness. By changing her name to Hulga, the ugliest name that she could think of, she implies that she does not feel Joy; she feels ugly and is scared to let down her guard. Julian's mother is insecure and afraid of being looked down upon by society. She even feels that her apartment is well located because it is in a neighborhood that was fashionable forty years ago.
Due to integration, blacks were able to move up in society and she was unconsciously afraid that they were catching up to her in social status. In A Good Man is Hard To Find, the grandmother brought her cat on the car trip so that it would not asphyxiate itself and insisted on wearing lace, so that anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know that she was a woman. Both of these gestures are examples of her fear of death. Finally, all of the characters are nave, unworldly and unable to read people. Mrs.
Hopewell refers to the bible salesman as genuine, while the entire time he is really just scamming the family. When Hulga goes out with him, she is struck by what a good Christian he is and agrees to his odd requests which essentially lead him to live her feeling entirely dependent on him. The reader sees this coming, although Hulga is completely blind. The grandmother is nave and unrealistic to think that the legendary Misfit, a killer, must still be a good man. She asks, You wouldnt shoot a lady? as if her being a lady would make this man less crazy.
Finally, Julian's mother is not able to read the reaction that will come from the black woman while her son knows that this petty charity act will offend her. Another important literary element that supports Oconnor's theme is the setting, the South in the early 1950 s. For example, it would be impossible to imagine grasping the same meaning from the stories if they were set in New York in 1987. Racism and the legacy of slavery provide one important element of the setting.
The sense of superiority that OConnor attributes to her characters is something that all whites in the South shared because they could look down on blacks. In Everything that Rises Must Converge, Julian's mother is not ready to accept that integration was changing the way that society looked at black people. She had grown up hearing about her grandfathers 200 slaves and it was difficult for her to accept that neither she nor blacks were where they had once been. The South is also known for Southern hospitality, Southern gentlemen, and good manners. These concepts emphasize appearances, not underlying realities, and Oconnor's characters share this emphasis. The title implies that this family, in particular, did not want to think about ones bad traits and insisted on noticing only the good.
When the bible man came to the door in the Good Country People, the women noticed that he was talking earnestly, sincerely, and genuinely, and assumed that he must come from a nice southern family where religion was of superior importance. In reality he was just the opposite. He had no religious faith and sold bibles only to make money and occasionally take advantage of women. A Good Man is Hard to Find has many similar implications addressing the thoughts that this twisted Grandmother has of southern society.
When she meets the murderer, he is the soul of politeness and she treats him like a Southern gentleman. Finally, Oconnor's ironic tone in each of the stories supports the theme. In all of the stories the reader has a difficult time identifying with the characters or with their suffering. For example, in A Good Man is Hard to Find the entire family is outrageously obnoxious and pathetic. Thus, when the grandmother is murdered, the reader is tempted to agree with the Misfit that she would have been a good woman if there would have been someone to shoot her every minute of her life.
It is ironic that OConnor is able to manipulate the story so that the reader never actually feels sorry for this good southern woman. It is also difficult to identify with Hulga or the rest of her household because they seem to lack any substance. (Mrs. Freedman had three gestures, neutral, forward, and reverse. ). When Hulga's leg is stolen, instead of the horror that should be felt, OConnor knows that the reader will perversely enjoy this act, just as Mrs. Freedman had a special fondness for incurable infections. Julian's mother is also hard to relate to because her perceptions are so out of kilter.
At the end of the story, when the black womans fist swings out with the red pocket book, instead of feeling sorry for her, the reader thinks she probably got what she deserved. Children always have a secret place, or a special teddy bear, or something to make them feel better when a best friend moves or parents fight. This outlet to frustration and sadness is what binds Oconnor's stories together. Her characters are child-like rather than children, but they too try to escape from unpalatable truths. High school students do this as well, some realizing it more than others at this point. Especially at Fox Chapel, students are granted numerous learning options, technologies, and facilities.
Teenagers in this area tend to only have teenage responsibilities such as making their bed, doing the dishes, walking dogs, and caring for siblings. Once out of high school these young adults are faced with the possibly harsh reality that bills need to be paid, and things will not be given on silver platters. Lunchroom gossip usually consists of events such as Homecoming and the new junior couple rather than discuss the latest energy bill from President Bush.
Free research essays on topics related to: rises must converge, good man is hard, good country people, julian mother, man is hard to find
Research essay sample on Rises Must Converge Good Country People
