A Good Man is Hard to Find: Chief of All Sinners

1368 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary criticism of flannery o'connor

In Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find. We meet an older woman simply known as the Grandmother. She is a prideful, selfish and ignorant person. Throughout the story she manages to make situations harder and harder for the characters until she leads them all, including herself to their demise. One could easily read the story and see her being a fairly flat character, but that would not be a quality interpretation. Instead there is so much more beneath her attitude, that not only makes her more interesting, but also relevant to humanity. O’Connor, being a Christian, writer inadvertently leaves vivid Christian imagery in her story. We see this in three distinct places, first in her general personality and how that affects those around her. Next, we relate more in her reaction to the outside force of adversity that the Misfit places upon her. Finally, and most importantly she experiences her eventual moment of grace and redemption.

The grandmother’s personality is that of the typical human character. We all know someone like her. Some of us, more than likely, are her. The key is to break down those nuances of her and see our own selves within. We see her behavior exposed within the first sentence of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey’s mind.” (O’Connor, 186) Immediately we are given evidence of a stubborn, will-bending woman. Her personality grows uglier as the story continues, she compares her daughter-in-law’s face to a cabbage, later she sneaks her cat in the car, lies about details of a house to have her way, and soon after even hides the fact that she has the family driving in the...

... middle of paper ...

...d has a true change of heart. She experiences what Jon Foreman calls “The beautiful letdown.” It’s clear to her in the end that grace is a gift to the undeserving, and it’s by the grace of Christ, not our works that we are saved and finally at peace. Flannery O’ Connor has written a stunning piece of literature. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a modern retelling of Paul of Tarsus. The Grandmother, like Paul is anyone of us, and her beautiful letdown is a moment we all desperately need to experience.

Works Cited

English Standard Version Bible. Crossway, 2007. YouVersion. LifeChurch.tv. Web. .

Foreman, Jon. "The Beautiful Letdown." The Beautiful Letdown. Switchfoot. John Fields, 2002. MP3.

O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. By Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Flannery O Conner's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Flannery O’Conner’s, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the story begins with the family going on a road trip to Florida. The Grandmother who is very critical, selfish, judgmental, forgetful, and dishonest and almost enjoys manipulating others to get her way. The Grandmother holds herself in very high regard and

    Read More

  • Flannery O Connor's Short Story: A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    A murderer was in the family’s presence. The grandmother was begging for grace from the misfit in every way possible. The character of the selfish grandmother, in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” tries to use her manipulative ways to fight the Misfit’s urge to kill her. She is unrelenting in her actions to control those around her. Grandmother portrays a stubborn, devious character who wants what she wants and is going to see that she gets it.

    Read More

  • Comparing Pride in A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People and Revelation

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    Douglas, Ellen. "O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.'" Contemporary Literature Criticism. Eds. Carolyn Riley and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1976. Vol. 6. 381.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    “In A Good Man Is Hard To find” the Grandmother is portrayed as a main character that symbolizes a savior. O’Connor portrays the Grandmother as a savior with grace, who is

    Read More

  • The Darkness of Irony in Flannery O'Connor's Short Stories

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    O’Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” The Story and Its Writer. Charters, Ann. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2011. 676-687. Print.

    Read More

  • Irony and Foreshadowing in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    As I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and thusly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with every sentence and by doing so, the characters within the story are infinitely real in my mind’s eye. As I consider these factors, the story focuses on two main characters; that of the grandmother, who comes across as self-centered and self-serving and The Misfit, a man, who quite ingeniously, also appears to be self-centered and self-serving. It is the story behind the grandmother, however, that evidence appears to demonstrate the extreme differences between her superficial self and the true character of her persona; as the story unfolds, and proof of my thought process becomes apparently clear.

    Read More

  • A Good Man is Hard to Find

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Complete Stories. New York: Farrar, (1969). 117-33. Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 1 June 2011.

    Read More

  • The Misfit and the Grandmother in Flannery O’ Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    “A Good Man is hard to find,” a short story written by Flannery O’ Connor, is one of the most interesting stories I’ve ever come across to in my life. Born as an only child into a Catholic family, O’ Conner is one of the most “greatest fiction writers and one of the strongest apologists for Roman Catholicism in the twentieth century (New Georgia Encyclopedia).” She was a very strong believer in her faith and she used her stories as a tool to send the reader a message that were most likely ignored and almost never uttered out loud. The story revolves around a grandmother who believes to be high and mighty around others. This results in her downfall later on.

    Read More

  • A False Reality in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Grandmother is a bit of a traditionalist, and like a few of O’Connor’s characters is still living in “the old days” with outdated morals and beliefs, she truly believes the way she thinks and the things she says and does is the right and only way, when in reality that was not the case. She tends to make herself believe she is doing the right thing and being a good person when in actuality it can be quite the opposite. David Allen Cook says in hi...

    Read More

  • Themes of A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O´connor

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2011. 1042-053. Print.

    Read More

  • Manipulation and Deception in A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of the story, the readers have come to known the grandmother as a spiteful old lady due to her repulsive and deceitful attitudes toward others. Right from the start, we can see the grandmother using her manipulative tactics on her family. “The grandmother didn't want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey's mind.” (O’Connor 1) This initial quote shows an early indication that the grandmother is determined to obtain whatever she wants and will not allow anything to get in her way, even if it means manipulating her own family. This line already suggests that the grandmother may have sly motives concealed in her mind. “Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is a loose from the Federal Pen a...

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Feminist Analysis

    336 Words  | 1 Pages

    “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” was written in 1955, and at this time, women were beginning to fight for many rights and freedoms. The grandmother is a wealthy, white, self-centered woman. However, the way in which Flannery O’Connor depicts her is quite contrary. O’Connor surrounds her life with men, even to the point of stating only one of the names of one of her grandchildren, “Bailey” (667-669). O’Connor is emphasizing the fact that women are disparaged—although it may appear at this time in

    Read More

  • Irony in a Good Man is Hard to Find

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    O’ Connor forces the reader to wonder which characters are “Good Men”, perhaps by the end of the story she is trying to convey two points: first, that a discerning “Good Man” can be very difficult, second, that a manipulative, self-centered, and hollow character: The Grandmother is a devastating way to be, both for a person individually and for everyone else around them. The reader is at least left wondering if some or all of the clues to the irony I provided apply in some way to the outcome of this story.

    Read More

  • Personification Of Selfishness In O Flannery's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    In O 'Connor, Flannery‘s “A good Man is Hard to find” the reader is presented with a living and breathing personification of selfishness and overly misguides sense of what’s good and what’s bad. The grandma in her warped sense of moral conscience at time seems to symbolize the character flaws apparent in all humans. Her selfishness is on full display throughout the entirety of the story and it ultimately plays a significant role in her untimely death. Her final sense of what’s morally correct in society leaves the reader with an obvious sense of renewed grace which eventually marks the end of the story. In this paper I will discuss how the grandma’s character in “A Good man is Hard to Find” is made to symbolize some of the most obvious imperfections

    Read More

  • Superficial Beliefs

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author tells about, as the title suggests, the different characters in the story. The author presents facts about O’Connor’s life that might have been the cause for all the features, behaviors, and beliefs of the characters in her works. For example, the author says most of the characters have something physically grotesque about them and this is seen as a continuous pattern in Flannery O’Connor’s writing, and it could have been due to the fact that she lived in forced isolation while in Milledgeville, Georgia. There are many excerpts in the book that discuss “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” relating to the Misfit and the grandmother, such as their conceited self-righteousness, all of which will help me develop my argument. So I intend to use some of those excerpts as proof for my view of the grandmother as the real antagonist in the story.

    Read More

More about A Good Man is Hard to Find: Chief of All Sinners

Open Document