1 You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you’re going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it.” This quote was stated in Flannery O’ Connors story of A Good Man is Hard to Find, she was a catholic all her life which motivated her to write stories and influence them. In A Good Man is Hard to Find, there were many examples of religion revealed in her literature such as the one presented and more examples followed. 2 The statement above is when The Misfit spoke this near the end of the story, just before sending the children’s mother, the baby, and June Star into the woods to be killed. 2 The Misfit tells the grandmother that he had been punished for a crime that he can’t remember, and this is the lesson he has taken away from it.
2 According to the Misfit’s speculation, no matter what the crime, big or small, the consequence will be the same—even if one never remembers what he or she did.
2 This idea of being punished for an unremembered crime refers to the Christian belief in original sin. 2 According to Christian theology, all humans are sinners, from the time they are born, for which they will be eternally punished. 2 But Only through God’s grace can people be saved. 2 In this perception, humans “forget” their crime, yet are punished nonetheless, just as the Misfit states. 2 Even More, the grandmother has her moment of grace when she acknowledges the Misfit as one of her “own children,” recognizing how very similar she is to the Misfit for the first time. 2 She isn’t morally superior, as she has always believed. 2 Instead, both are struggling in their own ways to come to terms with the difficult, often debatable belief of the Christian faith.
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...thoughts and life style O’ Connor lives throughout her story.
The many examples displayed about religion and Christianity plays a role on the reader and gets the student to realize that O’ Connor was trying to “sell” out her particular perception on life in this world as valid.
Works cited Drake, Robert.
5 "'The Bleeding Stinking Mad Shadow of Jesus' in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor." Comparative Literature Studies 3.2 (1966): 183-196. Rpt. 5 in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 21. Detroit: 6 Gale Research, 1982. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Renascence:
Essays on Values in Literature. 52.4 (Summer 2000): p311. 6 From Literature Resource Center.
"O ' Connors Short Stories.".
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
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A Good man is Hard to Find" focuses on Christianity being filled with sin and punishment, good and evil, belief and unbelief.
Flannery O’Connor was born Mary Flannery O’Connor on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as the only child to Edward F. O’Connor, Jr., and Regina (Cline) O’Connor. Later in 1941, Flannery O’Connor’s father dies of lupus while O’Connor is in Milledgeville, Ga. After her father’s death, O’Connor rarely speaks of him and continues to be active in school projects such as drawing, reading, writing, and playing instraments. Further, in the summer of 1942, O’Connor graduates and enters Georgia State College for Women as a sociology and English major. Moreover, O’Connor took on the name Flannery O’Connor, dropping Mary from her signature. When O’Connor graduates from college, she leaves for Iowa City and applies for several college teaching positions while attending the University of Iowa. Thus, she receives her Masters of Fine Arts in 1947. Although her first story, “The Geranium” was publised in Accent, during the summer of 1946, it was only the beginning of many of her works to be published. Like her father, O’Connor was living with lupus and her first major attack came in December, 1950. However, O’Connor did not allow the disease to keep her from writing and getting her works published. In fact, she got her nineth story , “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” published. Also, O’Connor has won many prizes and awards with her writings over the years. For instance, she was named the Honorary Doctor of Letters by institutions, was the first prize of the O. Henry award in 1957 and 1963 and had previously won second in 1954 and 1955. Moreover, O’Connor died on August 3, 1964 I a Milledgeville hospital. Nevertheless, her stories cont...
While reading Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we read that a family of five are on a roadtrip to Florida where they go every year. We have The Grandmother who derailed her family from the actual road to see a house she thought was in those parts of town. When all of a sudden her helpers are the murders she is afraid of. The murder “The Misfit” kills off the rest of her family and leaves her to dwell in her sorrow that she will be next. The Grandmother tries to maneuver her way out of dying by sweet talking The Misfit into thinking she can love him as her own child and that he doesn’t have to kill anymore. When she tries to reach for him he moved back and shot her. The Grandmother didn’t want him to be violent anymore and thought
Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of a Catholic family. The region was part of the 'Christ-haunted' Bible belt of the Southern States. The spiritual heritage of the region shaped profoundly O'Connor's writing as described in her essay "The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South" (1969). O'Connor's father, Edward F. O'Connor, was a realtor owner. He worked later for a construction company and died in 1941. Her mother, Regina L. (Cline) O'Connor, came from a prominent family in the state - her father had been a mayor of Milledgeville for many years.
In the short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” a family comprising of a grandmother, a father, three children, and a wife is headed on vacation has the misfortune of meeting a murderous band of serial killers. The Misfit and his band of serial killers are recently escapees of a federal prison. In the following paragraphs this paper looks into the issues of, what one would do in a situation such as that and the background of the the family and murderers as well.
Mary Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, on March 25, 1925. Until she graduated in 1945 she was known as Mary Flannery. At this point she felt that Mary Flannery didnt seem suitable, on one occasion she described it as sounding like the name of an Irish washerwoman. From this point on, she was known as just Flannery OConnor. Flannery is most recognized for her short stories but at the same time had great interest in cartooning and drawing. She would paint over any cracks in the walls of her home so that her mother would not cover them up with paintings from relatives. As a student at Georgia State College for women Flannery displayed her interests in art by painting murals on the walls of the student union building. Flannery often accredited her father, Edward OConnor as being one of the first and most important influences in her life. Edward OConnor not only encouraged his daughter to write but to explore her artistic ability as well.
In her short story, Revelation, author Flannery O'Connor explores the human mind along with the naivety that sometimes comes with it. She develops this by writing from a point of view that not only shows what the protagonist says and does, but what she restrains herself from saying every time she speaks. O'Connor's purpose is to invite the readers to take a look at themselves to see if they are truly who they think they are. The author is able to use several different devices in order to illustrate the several themes that protrude throughout the story. She appeals to the emotions of the audience by making the protagonist begin to seem like an enemy to an ordinary reader. O'Connor is able to extend her own credibility by mastering the jargon
The Misfit is a particularly intriguing and strange character in the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. He escapes from the federal prison after being convicted for murdering his own father. The Misfit, however, claims this to be untrue; he calls himself “The Misfit” because he “can’t make what all I [The Misfit] done wrong fit what all I [The Misfit] gone through in punishment” (1073). He also says that his daddy “died in nineteen ought nineteen of the epidemic flu [...] He was buried in the Mount Hopewell Baptist churchyard,” (1072). The Misfit says that he doesn’t understand why he was punished, which is why he has given himself this nickname. He claims to have tried remembering why he was put in prison, but
In” A Good Man is Hard to Find” there are many factors that can be the theme. The theme can be about a family as a whole that lacks love for the grandmother, or about a family that goes on a trip that wound up having an accident, which puts them at the wrong place at the wrong time. Both of these themes are obvious to any reader, but it does not quite seem to match this author’s depth style way of writing. In a brief write up on Flannery O’Connor, it says “O’Connor is a moralist, she focuses an uncompromising moral eye on the violence and spiritual disorder of the world.” By knowing this about the author O’Connor we can look deeper into this story and find morals of two characters as the theme. The two characters are the Grandmother and the Misfit. Even though they are both different as night and day, they both have morals and stands by their morals no matter what.
O’Connor is known for her unique sense of writing and does not follow the traditional style of books written on religion. O’Connor uses a harsh and brutal way of writing to try and capture her audience. She does this by “shouting” and “drawing large and startling figures”. O’Connor does not write her stories for those who share the same beliefs. In fact O’Connor wants to reach the people who do not believe. She states that when you are talking to someone who already shares the same beliefs you can use a “more normal means of talking”, I believe she means that you do not have to paint them a picture or try and make them understand what you’re talking about. When she states that she needs to shout at the hard of hearing she means that she needs to find a way to reach an audience who is either is closed minded or has different beliefs.
The concept of being a “good” person has painted the picture of how people have handled their lives throughout history. On the same note, this concept has also been the subject of much debate; such is the case in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The protagonist, the unnamed grandmother struggles to find the “good” in others and herself. O’Conner uses foreshadowing, characterization, and a distinct point of view to make her point. In my interpretation, her point is that only through conflict and turmoil can good truly be found.
The short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, is a gruesome and pessimistic view of man’s ability to possess goodness, but shows that when faced with death a person can be redeemed. The author illustrates this lack of goodness through the portrayal of the main character’s moral hypocrisy, self-centeredness and transformation to relay a message of redemption. O’Connor’s depiction of a southern grandmother's flimsy display of virtues, while interacting with her family, changes during the final stages of her life when she encounters a violent criminal. This story shows that people have the choice to display moral excellence, but that option is often exercised only when a person is faced with a burgeoning pressure, such as
When one sins, surroundings become a punishment source and learn from the mistakes. For Hester Prynne, “The scarlet letter, was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread
"She was a talker, wasn't she?" Bobby Lee said, sliding down the ditch with a yodel. "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." In “A Good man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’ Connor state that the story is about redemption. Is it about redemption, or what I believe is just a senseless act of pure evil of mankind and not regarding begging of human life. The story reflects on the mystery of both Grandmother and The Misfit. Comparing both Grandmother and The Misfit act of selfishness, cold, dark desire, and anger.
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