Theme Of Evil In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

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Recommended: Critical analysis of "a good man is hard to find

In the story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the everlasting conflict of good versus evil is once again questioned in the storyline. While the Grandma believes in goodness and Jesus Christ, the criminal Misfit sees the world as a place of only evil, and all apparent goodness is really obsolete, or just evil in disguise. In this short story, the main theme is obvious. It is selfishness. The entire story is based around this theme. On this vacation, the entire conflict could have been avoided had the grandmother not decided that her ideas and desires were more important than anyone else’s’ and this led to the death of her and all of her family members that were in the car with her, leaving her precious little cat as the only survivor. When the family decided to go to Florida, one of the kids asked there Grandma to not come along. The Grandma ignores the child’s request on account that she thinks that she will miss some big event, despite the fact that she didn’t even have any interest of vacationing in Florida, shows once again her selfish thinking. The Grandmother also bring along her cat, despite the protests of the rest of the family. After a while of driving, the family enters Tennessee. Instead of continuing on their way to Florida, the Grandma tells of an old plantation that she has fold memories of. Bailey does not want to stop, but then the Grandma tells the kids of a secret panel, knowing that this will spark their interest and win over the parents. As the family detours to stop at the plantation, the Grandma remembers that the plantation she remembered was back in Tennessee, not here in Georgia. This is yet another prime example of selfish thinking by the Grandma. At this point the plot takes a turn f... ... middle of paper ... ...y, are told to go into the woods with Hiram and Bobby. The grandmother, of course, tells them to go. The Misfit continues with their earlier conversation telling her that Jesus messed everything up when he claimed to have risen from the dead, which the Misfit doesn’t believe, and that now being mean and evil are the only things on earth worth participating in. The grandmother pleads with him about her own life, referring to him as one of her children. Disliking that, the Misfit shot the grandmother 3 times in her chest, killing her. The only remaining member of the family is the cat. What drives the grandmother to be so self-centered that everyone ends up being killed is what Flannery O’Connor is trying to warn us about. While it’s likely to not end in such an extreme case, selfishness can still lead to harming your relationships with others and the ones you love.

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