A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

33 (1): 101-106. Winter, 1990. Scheick, William J. "Flannery O'Connor 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' and G. K. Chesterston's 'Manalive'." Studies in American Fiction.

O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Complete Stories. New York: Farrar, (1969). 117-33.

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.

Curley, Edwin. “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association Vol. 65, Issue No. 3 (Nov., 1991) pp.29-45. Link, Alex.

She will be compelled to realize that she is no longer a child. "(Jacobs,361) The choices that Jacobs took in life were influenced by the position that she was in. She gave birth to two children, hoping they would hel... ... middle of paper ... ...hat clearly inhibits motherhood. She would rather see her child dead in peace before she saw her child as a slave. However this did not happen this way because Beloved came back to haunt the family which resulted in her two boys leaving because they could not stand the pressure of living in a haunted house.

On the road while Bailey was driving grandmother is still complaining that it will be nice to stop by Tennessee Bailey ignored her while June star and her twin brother John Wesley were exchanging books and Bailey's wife was taking care of the baby in the front seat. After a while grandmother noticed that she was just talking to herself she asked Bailey's wife to give her the bab... ... middle of paper ... ...ole family would have come together to make a plan. This would have being the best idea, after the misfit have killed Bailey and his families grandmother was hoping to get away from getting killed which it would have not work because the misfit knows that if he did not kill the grandmother then he will get turned in to the police by the grandmother so he had no choice but to kill her. Work cited Larson, Susan. T, Master Plots, Fourth Edition, November2010.

This woman is very selfish and does not agree with the plans that her son has made for their relaxing getaway. When her grandson tells her that she should say home if she does not want to go to Florida, the witty granddaughter named June Star replies, " `She wouldn't stay home to be queen for a day' " (385). This shows that the grandmother always has to put her two cents into everything. In addition to the grandmother's idea of running into the Misfit, who has escaped from the penitentiary she states, " `I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. ... ... middle of paper ... ..., is asked to take the mother and June Star to the woods.

When she finally makes some progress in delaying their travels things go horribly. Bailey and his family discover the hard way just how ironic life can be. The grandmother uses many excuses for the family to go to Tennessee instead of Florida on vacation. The first of her many excuses is “The Misfit”, a serial killer that has escaped from prison and is headed toward Florida, claiming that she would never take her children anywhere near a man like that. This didn’t have the desired effect on Bailey so she explains to him and his wife how the children need more variety and they should take the children to see different parts of the world, East Tennessee for example.

18). At the beginning of the story, the grandmother brings to everyone’s attention how the Misfit had escaped and that she “wouldn’t take her children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (O’ Connor, pg. 644). She expressed how she couldn’t answer to her conscience if she did which is ironic because they ended up right in the Misfits path. The fear had engulfed the grandmother from the moment she heard of the misfit and it caused her to become fearful but yet interested in the Misfit.

Work Cited Schlib, John and John Clifford. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th edition. Bedford/ St. Martin’s: Boston and New York, 2012.