A Good Man is Hard to Find

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A Good Man is Hard to Find Virtue and “the grandmother” If you were to ask someone what their definition of a happy life would be, they would probably give you an answer like, “having fun.” This is completely untrue in Aristotle’s terms. According to Aristotle, for a man to lead a happy life he must learn each of the intellectual virtues, and practice each of the moral virtues throughout his life. These moral virtues are justice, courage, temperance, magnificence, magnanimity, liberality, gentleness, prudence, and wisdom. With so many virtues to constantly abide by, a man cannot know if he has led a happy life until his life is nearly finished. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’ Connor, the question is raised whether the grandmother has achieved a state of happiness according to Aristotle’s terms at the time of her death. The answer is no, because she is a person who is dishonest, cowardly, and unwise. Of all the virtues, honesty is practiced the least by the grandmother. Honesty is defined as “The capacity or condition of being honest; integrity; trustworthiness” (Honesty). There are several examples of the grandmother’s dishonest and untrustworthy actions. In the beginning of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida” (O’ Connor 1106), so she made up false excuses to try to persuade her family to take her to Tennessee. “ his fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida. I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it’” (O’ Connor 1106). On the way to Florida, the grandmother notices an old house she visited as a child. When she wants to stop and re-visit the house, the grandmother tells the... ... middle of paper ... ...n the story, (honesty, courage, and wisdom) none of the virtues are abided by. Although there are six other virtues, all of the virtues must be abided by in order to achieve happiness. Besides, if the grandmother doesn’t abide by the three virtues represented in the story, this leads one to believe that she doesn’t abide by any of them. In conclusion, the grandmother does not lead a happy life in accordance to Aristotle’s theory of happiness. Bibliography: Works Cited “Courage.” The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000. “Honesty.” The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000. O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's 1999, 1106-1117. “Wisdom.” The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000.

Flannery O Connor Grandmother
1168 Words | 3 Pages
A brilliant storyteller during the mid-twentieth century, Flannery O'Connor wrote intriguing tales of morality, ethics and religion. A Southern writer, she wrote in the Southern Gothic style, cataloging thirty-two short stories; the most well known being “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”
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The Grandmother in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find
448 Words | 1 Pages
Although this story is told in the third person, the reader’s eyes are strictly controlled by the meddling, ever-involved grandmother. She is never given a name; she is just a generic grandmother; she could belong to anyone. O’Connor portrays her as simply annoying, a thorn in her son’s side. As the little girl June Star rudely puts it, “She has to go everywhere we go. She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day” (117-118). As June Star demonstrates, the family treats the grandmother with great reproach. Even as she is driving them all crazy with her constant comments and old-fashioned attitude, the reader is made to feel sorry for her. It is this constant stream of confliction that keeps the story boiling, and eventually overflows into the shocking conclusion. Of course the grandmother meant no harm, but who can help but to blame her? O’Connor puts her readers into a fit of rage as “the horrible thought” comes to the grandmother, “that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (125).
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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.
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A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
1616 Words | 4 Pages
The grandmother, the main character of the story, is manipulative. Her definition of a ‘good man’ refers to the characteristics that a ‘good man’ should possess. She believes that the true definition of a good man is a southern gentleman: respectful, chivalrous, and courageous when necessary. From the beginning, the reader is given the indication that the grandmother is determined to get what she wants and will do whatever she can to do so. And, from the second line of the story, O’Connor suggests that anything the grandmother says might have an alternative motive. “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” (1284). This is relevant to the theme in that a person may have alternate motives, even if they seem to be doing things selflessly from an outsider’s perspective. When the grandmother mentions that she doesn’t want to go to Florida, her son Bailey assumes it’s because of the Misfit killer who has escaped from prison. However, in actuality, she wanted to visit other family and friends in Tennessee.
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Irony and Foreshadowing in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find
1618 Words | 4 Pages
With these two divergent personas that define the grandmother, I believe the ultimate success of this story relies greatly upon specific devices that O’Connor incorporates throughout the story; both irony and foreshadowing ultimately lead to a tale that results in an ironic twist of fate and also play heavily on the character development of the grandmother. The first sense of foreshadowing occurs when the grandmother states “[y]es and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, Caught you” (1042). A sense of gloom and an unavoidable meeting with the miscreant The Misfit seem all but inevitable. I am certain that O’Connor had true intent behind th...
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A good man is hard to find
863 Words | 2 Pages
Just some of the last pleading words of the grandmother in the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. In the story, the author uses colloquialism, point-of-view, foreshadowing, and irony, as well as other rhetorical devices, to portray the satire of southern beliefs and religion throughout the entire piece.
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Aristotle Wins Ethically: A comparison between John Stuart Mill and Aristotle on happiness
1260 Words | 3 Pages
Simply defined, happiness is the state of being happy. But, what exactly does it mean to “be happy?” Repeatedly, many philosophers and ideologists have proposed ideas about what happiness means and how one attains happiness. In this paper, I will argue that Aristotle’s conception of happiness is driven more in the eye of ethics than John Stuart Mill. First, looking at Mill’s unprincipled version of happiness, I will criticize the imperfections of his definition in relation to ethics. Next, I plan to identify Aristotle’s core values for happiness. According to Aristotle, happiness comes from virtue, whereas Mill believes happiness comes from pleasure and the absence of pain. Ethics are the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior which are driven by virtues - good traits of character. Thus, Aristotle focuses on three things, which I will outline in order to answer the question, “what does it mean to live a good life?” The first of which is the number one good in life is happiness. Secondly, there is a difference between moral virtues and intellectual virtues and lastly, leading a good life is a state of character. Personally and widely accepted, happiness is believed to be a true defining factor on leading a well intentioned, rational, and satisfactory life. However, it is important to note the ways in which one achieves their happiness, through the people and experiences to reach that state of being. In consequence, Aristotle’s focus on happiness presents a more arguable notion of “good character” and “rational.”
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Good Man Is Hard To Find Misfit
1101 Words | 3 Pages
She is a manipulator when it comes to any aspect of her life. Ideally, the grandmother was selfish and care about herself. For instance, when the author has her saying “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady (O’Connor). The author let it be known at that second that the grandmother was only thinking about herself. As if she was traveling with a group of strangers. Throughout the story, the grandmother shows that she can be dishonest towards her family. “She woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady” (O’Conner). The grandmother did this to manipulate the situation causing the ride to be delayed. Thus, she was lying to the children about the secret panel in the house. Therefore, she caused chaos in the car. The author made it seem that the grandmother was very content with that she has caused. Even when she realized that the location of the house that she was referring to was not up that road at all. But she remained quiet or did she know this along. She was quick to judge and tell someone what not to do. But she never turned her eye on herself. That she was selfish and dishonest to her
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A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
1220 Words | 3 Pages
There are many things that happen in the story that gives more information about the grandmother. The reader can tell that the woman is paranoid by her conversations at the start of this story. She reads about the Misfit killer and assumes it would be dangerous to travel to Florida with a man like that on t...
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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.
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Mercy in Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find
991 Words | 2 Pages
In the beginning of the story the negative characteristics of the grandmother are revealed. She is portrayed as being a very egocentric person. The grandmother is very persistent about getting her way. She appears to be very insensitive of the feelings of the other family members. She consistently tries to persuade the family to go to Tennessee rather than to Florida. Also, she rebelliously took the cat with her on the trip when she knew the others would object. As a result of her selfishness the family had to make a detour to stop and see the house that she insisted upon visiting.
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Human Nature In A Good Man Is Hard To Find
1425 Words | 3 Pages
One trait that the grandmother possesses is the ability to manipulate the other characters indirectly. For example, the grandmother tries to convince the father into going to Tennessee rather Florida by telling him about a loose criminal. “‘I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did” (1). The grandmother is attempting to play on the father’s parental concern and change his mind about where the family goes on vacation. She does not actually care about The Misfit being loose, the grandmother just wants to satisfy her demands. If the family had been going to Tennessee and The Misfit was loose in Tennessee, the grandmother most likely would have not said anything because she would be getting exactly what she wanted. Later on, the grandmother tricks the family into visiting an old house by telling the children about a hidden panel in the walls of the house. “‘There was a secret panel in this house,’ she said craftily, not
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Irony in a Good Man is Hard to Find
954 Words | 2 Pages
This is based on the grounds that “the Misfit”, an escaped criminal, is on the loose somewhere in Florida. The ironic part of this is that the grandmother is the only family member to conceive of bad things happening to the family. She bases this solely on the fact that they were traveling in the same direction as the Misfit. This negative thinking quite possibly could have led to the eventual rendezvous between the convict and the family. The following day, the family heads off to Florida.
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Essay 2
750 Words | 2 Pages
In the beginning of the story O’Connor writes that the grandmother does not wish to go to Florida. (183) In fact the grandmother says everything she can to change the minds of her of family.” (O’Connor 183) The grandmother reads her son Bailey the story of a notorious escaped convict who is supposedly headed to Florida (O’ Connor 183-84). Flannery O’Connor states:
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Aristotle's Theory of the Good Life
961 Words | 2 Pages
Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the...
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A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O Connor Grandmother

The Grandmother in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

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