A Good Grandmother Can be Hard to Find

In Flannery O'Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find, a family trying to go on a trip to Florida plans and lives come to a tragic end because of one person in their family: Their manipulative Grandmother. Even though she says in the beginning “I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (O’Conner pg), she does the complete opposite of her word and leads them all in to the way of danger; The hands of the criminal, The Misfit. If she would have just stayed home, no one would have died in the end and the trip would have went as smoothly as it has before. Yet, the tragedy of their grandmother’s choices and commitment of many of the deadly sins are what lead them to their fates, and the grandmother to her moment of divine grace. She proves that “good” people are hard to find, until in the sense of danger or a violent act wakes them up to receive and learn their purpose in life. The grandmother’s first sin was lust, an intense desire. Her intense desire was for control, getting her way, no matter what the cost was or the manipulating act she would have to commit. In the beginning of this short story it starts “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’Conner pg). This start gives you a hint of her manipulating ways and desire for control. However her son Bailey, is immune to his mothers ways and chooses to ignore her. Next, she tries to manipulate the other part of the family. She tries everything from announcing "The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida [...]” to using the three children of Bailey and his wife as an excuse not to go by s... ... middle of paper ... ...eive divine redemption and moments from God. Works Cited Bruccoli, Matthew J., and Judith Baughman. Student's Encyclopedia of American Literary Characters. New York: Facts On File, 2008. Print. Michael Clark, “Flannery O’Conner’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ : The Moment of Grace,” in English Language Notes, Volume XXIX, No. 2, December, 1991, pg. 66-9. Print. Piedmont-Marton, Elisabeth. Short Stories for Students. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. 106-09. Print. "O'Connor on "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"" O'Connor on "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" Ed. Thomas Votteler. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. O'Conner, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2002. N. pag. Print. Oschorn, Kathleen G. Ed. Katleen Wilson. Short Stories for Students. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. 110-13. Print.