Self-centered Grandmother in Flannery OÇonnor's A Good Man is Hard to Find

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In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother is a very negative character whose personality leads to her demise. The Grandmother, who is the most dynamic character in the whole short story, represents the mindset of senile and pessimistic people. She is portrayed as hypocritical, shallow and self-absorbed due to the fact that she does not take other people’s feelings into consideration. The grandmother’s “old South” ideas, self-consciousness, and selfishness ultimately lead to her death.
The grandmother demonstrates her "old South" perception of the world throughout the story. She makes many racist and stereotypical remarks. For one, she makes a statement regarding a black child standing in the door of a shack they pass, "Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!" (225.) This situation is developed after June Star noticed that the child had no "britches" on, and the grandmother replies, "He probably didn't have any. Little niggers in the country don't have things like we do. If I could paint, I'd paint that picture." (225.) Besides obvious use of the...

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