Analysis of A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

Analysis of A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

In Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard To Find, one is struck by the unexpected violence at the end of the story. However, if you re-read the story a second time, you will see definite signs that foreshadow the grotesque ending. The story begins with the typical nuclear family being challenged by the grandmother who doesn't want to take the vacation to Florida. She has read about a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit who is on the run heading for Florida. Unfortunately, she is ignored by every member of the family except for the little girl, June Star, who can read the grandmother like an open book. The fact that she admonishes Bailey, her son, of this Misfit and "what he did to those people' foreshadows what will happen to them. As readers, we know that O?Connor will not mention such an interesting fact without having it affect the characters later on in the story.

The morning of the trip the grandmother is the first one in the car ready to travel as June Star predicted she would be, "She wouldn?t stay at home for a million bucks. She has to go everywhere we go." This can be read as a direct foreshadowing of the grandmother?s death. As one reads the story, one wonders why every time Bobby Lee and Hiram take someone into the forest, they never come back. Eventually, the whole family is taken to die. June Star?s comment that the grandmother goes everywhere the family goes can be read as an indication that she will meet the same end that they did.

Although the grandmother did not want to go to Florida, she ironically dresses in her Sunday best. She was dressed very nicely with: a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white viole...

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...hites were gone. The grandmother represents godliness and holiness. The parents pay little attention to the grandmother and when they do it is often rude. The unruly children are represent the breakdown of respect, and discipline, and are consequently a forecast of future generations. The Misfit represents evil. At one point comparing himself to Christ.

Flannery O?Connor uses strong imagery to foreshadow to her readers the inevitable ending of "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." She first gives her readers an inkling of the ending by mentioning the Misfit?s murderous tendencies, peaking her readers curiosity. She then uses numerous images such as the grandmother?s dress, the graveyard, and the conversation with the Misfit to further feed our curiosity. Her foreshadowing images are both strong and obscure, so as not to spoil the surprising ending of the story.