The Grandmother Conflict

One of the characters O'Connor used was the grandmother to demonstrate the conflict of Man v. Self. In the beginning of the story, we as the readers get to see how extravagant the grandmother dresses just to go on a trip she didn’t want to go on to begin with. As the family was going on the trip to Florida the author describes how fancy the grandmother dressed by saying “ ...the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know

The author shows the human nature of having other peoples acceptance. The grandmother wants others to view her as being a lady and a good person when she herself knows she is not. The author uses another aspect of human nature in which the grandmother struggles with and that is accepting that she has made a mistake. The grandmother was wrong about the house being in Georgia but in Tennessee, but she refused to say something because she was embarrassed (O'Conner 18-19). After the family got into an accident the grandmother did not apologize for causing the accident by bringing the cat disrespecting her son's whishes or for bringing the family to a house that wasn't located in Georgia. She struggles with being imperfect and because of it she puts her family in danger. The author also uses the grandmother's moral code as an internal conflict. One of the grandmother's moral belief is being respectful. The grandmother feels that the children should be more respectful toward elders. "In my time," said the grandmother, folding her thin veined fingers, "children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything