A Look at Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

A Look at Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

In the short story A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor uses many different tactics to accurately portray the south in the 1950’s. O’Connor uses her style, themes, and point of view to tell a story of a family outing gone wrong. The story involves a grandmother, her only son and his wife, and their two bratty children, June Star and John Wesley. On their way to Florida, the grandmother convinces the family to detour to see an old house, and while heading towards their destination, the car overturns. The much-feared criminal, The Misfit, an escaped murderer, encounters the family, and offers to help them. The Grandmother immediately notices the man as The Misfit, and verbally acknowledges that fact. “‘You’re The Misfit!’ she said. “I recognized you at once!’” (p. 687) The Misfit has the husband and son killed relatively quickly, and even after much conversation and pleading, he kills the rest of the family.

A Good Man is Hard to Find includes a lot of character development, a unique point of view, and the use of foreshadowing. O’Connor does this through her characters, setting, and details in the story. The grandmother is a classic old southern woman, who is eccentric and who may come off as a racist. However, the woman may not be racist, but rather just naive and too set in her ways to deal with the changes present at the time. As the grandmother said, “Oh look at that cute little pickaninny! … Wouldn’t that make a picture now?” (p. 681) When O’Connor was writing she might not have meant to show that the grandmother was a racist, but rather just that she was out of tune with the rest of the world. The grandmother was also portrayed as Christian, one who was displeased with others who did not act in a Christian manner, and with the society as a whole. She discusses this with Red Sammy, a restaurant owner and war veteran. Red Sammy said “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.” (p.683)

O’Connor often shows through the story the degeneration of the nuclear family. She does this not only through the incident at Red Sammys, but also through the child characters, John Wesley and June Star. The father, Bailey, tends to ignore the grandmother, and has failed to teach his children respect and manners. “T...

... middle of paper ...

...hance of survival.

Other mentions of death throughout the story include when the grandmother made sure to dress in her best clothing in case “anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady.” (p. 680) This turns out to be just as the story goes, the grandmother being the only one who is actually left by the side of the road. An additional reference is the mention of “five or six graves” (p. 681) at the side of the road and the town name “Toombsboro” (p. 684) and the “hearse-like” (p. 686) automobile are use to remind everyone of the ultimate outcome in life.

The gruesome and surprising ending not only shocks readers, but also it may cause them to think about their life more in-depth. The comment from The Misfit may allow people to connect themselves, and realize that they may not be as far away from the grandmother as they may think. “‘She would have been a good woman,’ The Misfit said, ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.’” (p. 692) Many people might reflect on this statement, and realize that they, too, are guilty of being, as so called, a “good man” or “good woman,” only when they are required to do so.