Flannery O’Conner came from a well-established Christian family, yet her writing demonstrated a wildly different perspective on life when compared to her upbringing (Gordon). O’Conner published “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in 1955, which became wildly popular due to the way it portrayed family values, yet twisted violence into its plot at the same time (Gordon). This particular writing style helped set her apart from authors of her time. Unfortunately, she died on August 3rd, 1964 and would never see the recognition that her work achieved over its lifetime (Gordon). During the 1950s, Americans were living in what is considered a nuclear family (People & Events…). This is considered to be a family where a man is the head of the household, while the women tends to the rigors of daily household chores (People & Events...). In Flannery O’Conner’s story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the reader can correlate how the grandmother is portrayed with how society at the time viewed women (O'Conner). The grandmother often reached out to her family and was ignored constantly, just as women’s rights were largely ignored during that time (O'Conner,). In this regard, the grandmother portrays the women’s rights movement itself while the family portrays the society that ignores the issue at hand. In turn, the Misfit plays the role of the government. When the family first comes into contact with the Misfit, the grandmother recognizes him and tells him he is a good man (O'Conner). However, the Misfit has her grandchildren dragged into the woods and killed, which helps symbolize how powerless women were at that time over men (O'Conner). There was nothing she could do about it unless society stood up and took action. Furthermore, the mother screaming “w... ... middle of paper ... ...with the Misfit and replace the family with society and the story starts to directly reflect one another time and time again. Works Cited "Equal Pay/Compensation Discrimination." Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. Gordon, Sarah. "Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)." New Georgia Encyclopedia. University of Georgia Press, 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. O'Conner, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." A Good Man Is Hard to Find. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. "People & Events: Mrs. America: Women's Roles in the 1950s." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2014. United States Of America. United States Cencus Bureau. Women in the Workforce. U.S. Census Burau, 2007. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. "We Are Woman: The History of Women's Rights in the United States." We Are Women. We Are Women, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
In her short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor seems to portray a feeling that society as she saw it was drastically changing for the worse. O’Connor obvious displeasure with society at the time the story was written is most likely her religious and conservative upbringing in the “old south.” O’Connor shows her point of view through an old woman named the grandmother. She uses the grandmother to depict Evidence of society’s demise is woven into the story, and presented through an interesting generational gap between the old and the new (the grandmother and her family). O’Connor use of irony throughout the story is a clear representation of the way in which she portrays the events yet to come.
In Flannery O’Conner’s, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the story begins with the family going on a road trip to Florida. The Grandmother who is very critical, selfish, judgmental, forgetful, and dishonest and almost enjoys manipulating others to get her way. The Grandmother holds herself in very high regard and
The Grandmother’s deviousness and immorality is evident in the beginning of the story. While reading the newspaper article about the Misfit, the Grandmother brings it to Bailey’s attention. In Short Story Criticism, Mary Jane Schenck writes “For Bailey, the newspaper story is not important or meaningful, and for the Grandmother it does not represent a real threat but is part of a ploy to get her own way” (Schenck 220). “A Good Man is Hard to Find” begins with an innocent road trip, however, due to coercion by the Grandmother; it soon turns into a fatal nightmare. In Short Story Criticism, Martha Stephens writes “… it is true that in a trivial sense everything that happens is the Grandmother’s fault…” She continues with “It is in the conscious of the Grandmother that we continue to experience the action of the story…” (Stephens 196).
Connors, Flannery O' "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Pegasus Web Server Home Page. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.
Flannery O’Connor is a master of the ironic, the twisted, and the real. Life is filled with tragic irony, and she perfectly orchestrates situations which demonstrate this to the fullest extent. A Good Man is Hard to Find is an excellent example of the mangled viewpoint which makes her work as compelling and striking as it is.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." 1955. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998.
Bandy, Stephen C. "One of my babies": The Misfit and the Grandmother in Flannery O'Connor's short story 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find'. Studies in Short Fiction; Winter 1996, v33, n1, p107(11)
Boudreaux, Armond. "There Are No Good Men To Find: Two Stories By Flannery O’Connor." Explicator 69.3 (2011): 150. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 Nov. 2013.
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Comp. John Schilb and John Clifford. Making Literature Matter. Print.
O?Connor, Flannery. ?A Good Man is Hard to Find.? Literature: An introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2002.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2011. 1042-053. Print.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." 1955. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 193-203.
Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find is one of the most well-known short stories in American history. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a disturbing short story that exemplifies grace in extremity as well as the threat of an intruder. The story tells of an elderly grandmother and her family who embark on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother is a stubborn old woman with a low sense of morality. While on the trip, the grandmother convinces her son to take a detour which results in a broken down car and an encounter with a convicted fugitive, The Misfit. Although the grandmother pleads for mercy, The Misfit kills off the rest of her family. Through the grace she finds in her extreme circumstance, the grandmother calls The Misfit her own and implores him to spare her life. The Misfit does not oblige her and states after her death, “She would have been a good woman if it had been someone to shoot her every day of her life.” Through Flannery O’Connor’s disturbing and shocking display of the grandmother’s demise, she gives the reader a sense of the threatening power of an intruder and the idea of extreme situations bringing about a state of grace. The reason for such a powerful work may have resulted from Flannery O’Connor’s religious upbringing as well as the state of the nation at the time.
Flannery O’ Connor’s story: “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the tale of a vacation gone wrong. The tone of this story is set to be one irony. The story is filled with grotesque but meaningful irony. I this analysis I will guide you through the clues provided by the author, which in the end climax to the following lesson: “A Good Man” is not shown good by outward appearance, language, thinking, but by a life full of “good” actions.
Flannery O’Connor is best known for her Southern Gothic writing style and grotesque characters. Dorothy Tuck McFarland states that “O’Connor created bizarre characters or extreme situations in order to attain deeper kinds of realism” (1). This writing style is seen in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Flannery O’Connor uses many techniques to gain the reader’s attention and keep them captivated. One way that O’Connor does this is by revolving her stories around symbols and integrating religious elements into her works. O’Connor is widely recognized for incorporating her Catholic faith into her stories. “She was a devout Roman Catholic, with a Southern upbringing” (Whitt 1). There are many types of ways to interpret “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. One method is by using formalist criticism. Formalist criticism exists when a reader can approach, analyze, and understand a story by using elements like the setting and symbolism.