Preview

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
731 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Good Man Is Hard To Find Essay
Do you find yourself shocked or frustrated right at the end of a good book? Do you end up scratching your head and wonder what just happened? That’s because good writers know how to persuade readers to think a certain way, like the most logic or obvious choice, and add a twist that will leave you saying, “I didn’t see that coming!” After going back and rereading you see hidden clues that lead up to the final conclusion. This is known as “breadcrumbs.” Great author’s love throwing breadcrumbs into their story to show that things aren’t exactly as they appear. One example of a great plot twist is “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Connor. When reading, you think it’s about a family vacation gone wrong. The story has many laugh-out-loud humor that we all can relate when it comes to vacations. Rotten little bother’s and sister’s, granny who gets what she wants, dad who is in charge, and mother who is just along for the ride. Then the ending happens. The story takes a dramatic turn from all the humor to …show more content…
O’Connor purposely wanted readers to think this way to distracted what it’s actually meant to mean. If your one of the reader’s who fall into this trap then the story’s conclusion will leave you completely shocked. So what does O’Connor mean by a good man is hard to find? Several clues, if not carefully read, presents us with an idea of what the main character means by “good.” One would be when the grandmother and her family are at a small restaurant called Red Sammy’s. Her and the owner get to talking about how good men are hard to find. ”A good man is hard to find.....I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.” Here, the owner says exactly what the reader believes the title to be, but when the grandmother speaks her interpretation of “good man” is different. The first clue is how she

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nancy Nester’s “O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find” construes that it is “Bailey whose “goodness” accrues throughout the story, that it may be Bailey, in fact, whose goodness the grandmother affirms at its climax.” She believes that Bailey is a “good but overlooked man” in the story. She denotes the numerous instances, which were often ignored by other critics, Bailey symbolizes or acts as the one piece of good represented throughout the story.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Saboteur” by Ha Jin and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor both explore how being considered a “bad person” is all relative. “Saboteur” has Mr. Chiu who has truthfully done nothing wrong to deserve being put in jail, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” has the misfit who clearly has done “bad” things in his life time such as murder but says he does not consider himself to be that bad of a man. The misfit and Mr. Chiu have not as much in common as Mr. Chiu and the grandmother, because both share certain traits that gets them into a lot of trouble which is selfishness and pride. The misfit is different from the grandmother and Mr. Chiu because he recognizes the fact that he is not a good man, something both of them cant seem at admit.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is a good man? Everyone has his or her own definition, but what is the correct definition? Good, can depict anything from someone being righteous, to something simply working proper. In Flannery O'Connor's short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the definition of good is shown mostly through the eyes of the grandmother. She sees anyone within the upper class as being good. However, the veteran and store owner Red Sammy appears a good man for charging two boys. By the end of the story, her mind is opened as she begins to see who she was and what her selfishness had caused. The Grandmother's opinion of what a ‘good man' is based on if the person thinks the way she thinks. This causes her definition to change throughout the story until…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the utmost unforgettable lines from “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” originates from the Misfit when he says, “She would have been a good woman if it had been someone there to shoot her for every minute of her life (O'Connor).” Flannery O’Connor’s illustration of Christianity can be seen in within this text. Certainly, the plot ends with an appalling conclusion, and this leaves the reader with liberty to understand the central idea of this story. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is largely influenced by divine authority and other elements within the story.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A family endeavor changes into a road of discovery and grace in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. This southern gothic gives a tragic look at self-discovery. The story allows us to focus on the negative aspects of characters. As the plot rises the reader discovers grace behind the worst of faces. This ordinary road trip and talk of an estranged criminal turns deadly as the story unravels.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, is a detailed account of a family trip to Florida that ends in tragedy. On this journey, the family meets several different characters along the way. No matter how insignificant each character is O’Connor is sure to give the reader a full understanding of their intentions and personality. Although the reader never gets to know some of the characters names, O’Connor is sure to make the reader feel as though he knows each character personally. O’Connor uses characterization techniques such as actions, clothing and family life that allow the reader to…

    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man is Hard to Find

    • 1397 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is a short story that depicts a family road trip to Florida that ends in an abysmal tragedy when they meet the Misfit, a remorseless convict who has escaped from prison. In the beginning, the Grandmother is obsessed with everything worldly and superficial. She is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. Towards the end of the story, the grandmother finds herself in ominous dialogue with The Misfit. In the story, The Misfit represents a quasi-final judgment. He does this by acting like a mirror. He lets whatever The Grandmother says bounce right off him. He never agrees nor disagrees with the grandmother, and in the end, he is the one who kills her. At the end of the story, before the Grandmother meets her fate, she has a moment of redemption. She finally distinguishes The Misfit for who he really is, not a psychopathic killer on the loose; but a person just like herself. The Misfit, being a man who is not created from social class; he is a simple human being just like the grandmother. At this point she sees herself in relation to everyone else. She finally realizes that she is not made by her class. Society makes the class, and she just fits into it. She shows this by claiming that The Misfit could be one of her own children. This story is meant to be interpreted as a parable, whereby O'Connor made skilful use of symbolism to bring about messages such as the social-superiority and the lack of spiritual faith that exist amongst common people; and the grace in humans is exposed, only when facing adverse and fatal circumstances.…

    • 1397 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short stories "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" the antagonists are The Misfit and Arnold Friend respectively. Both are mentally unstable and murderers, but that is where the similarities end. The protagonists of the stories are Grandma and Connie respectively. Both seem to be dissimilar at first but as the stories progress more similarities than differences become apparent to the reader.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Jesus!” the old lady cried. “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus you ought not shoot a lady. I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” In the story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” the major theme is the theme of religion. The story is about a family that ends up going on a vacation to Tennessee, instead of Florida because the grandmother wants to go there. On their way the grandmother directs them to a dirt road, which she claims had a house that was pretty amazing with a secret panel. When to far in she realizes they are in the wrong place its not in Georgia but in Tennessee. It is to late they get in a car accident fortunately all of them are fine, but they come against the famous “Misfit,”(O’Connor) which happens to be a criminal that has escaped from jail and is on the loose and is very dangerous. The grandmother recognizes him and everything goes down hill for them at that point. In the end the poor family ends up getting killed. The main points in this story are Grace, and the way the word “Good” is misinterpreted by the grandmother.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ambiguity in O'Connor

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ambiguity in short stories is common and can be used in many different ways by the author. Flannery O 'Connor uses ambiguity in the theme of her story, ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find '. Throughout the entire story the notion of ‘a good man ' continues to arise. While the characters in the story dwell on the idea of a good man, it is never clear what makes a man good. Adding to the vagueness of the theme is each characters interpretation of the term ‘good man '. The grandmother seems to have an old-fashioned outlook, always speaking highly of the people in past times. At one point in the story she is preaching to her grandchildren, "In my time, children were more respectful…" implying that people are less considerate and polite presently than in the past. Later in the story she is conversing with a restaurant owner, Red Sammy, and states that "People are certainly not nice like they used to be," again implying that people of the past were better than the people of today. However the grandmother 's view of a good man is not the standard used by others in the story. During the conversation at the restaurant, the grandmother explains that she believes Red Sammy is a good man. This perception evidently is not shared completely by Red Sammy 's wife. Sammy 's wife claims, "It isn 't a soul in this green world of God 's that you can trust. And I don 't…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grandmother is the central character in the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor. She is also a very well rounded and dynamic character. She shows various characteristics and reveals various remarks as they story progresses. Some of her qualities include selfish and a pushy person. She is also kind of manipulator in a way that she insists her family to change the plan. At the beginning of the story when we first realize her desire to visit her childhood house, she is being a very selfish person. Examining her conversation with her son Bailey, the grandmother is moreover a pushy person. She is convincing Bailey to change the trip plan according to her need only and which will benefit her only. She is trying to manipulate her family to do what she thinks is best. She is also a bit of criticizer at points in the story. Her characteristics remain same throughout the story that is even when her desire was ignored, she still kept praising it.…

    • 1670 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religion is something that many people since the beginning of time as we know it, have fought over. To some it plays a huge role while others it is something not worth acknowledging. Foster explains how religion plays a big role in many types of literature throughout the ages. While many are influenced by religious texts others are more interested in Shakespeare. Foster also explains the connection between many of Shakespeare’s works and most of our modern literature.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Have values really change over the years? In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” values are really portrayed as being a thing in the past. Values such as family values and people values are really important and O’Connor really tries to get her point across by using the character from the family to show how they have lost respect towards each other and other people as well. The worst thing is that the characters don’t even realize how they act with each is actually wrong and don’t seem to do anything about it because of the lack of discipline.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people claim to be religious even though they constantly criticize and judge others, which results in hypocrisy. These hypocrites believe themselves to be good people because they have religion in their life. Religion can be misidentified as what it takes to be a good person. In Flannery O'Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother claims to be religious but, is, in fact, a hypocrite who lacks self-awareness.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story I decided to do my paper over was A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor. This story is about a family that is made up of a grandma, mom, dad, son, daughter. The story starts withe the family is getting ready to go on a family trip to florida but the grandma does not want to go to florida she wants to go to tennessee to see her friends. The dad who is the grandmas son says that would unfair to the rest of the family so the grandma says fine and they hed toward florida. On the way they stop at Red Sammy’s Barbeque restaurant to get something to eat then they continue on. On the way to florid after the stoped for food the grandma says she remebers this very nice house that she wants to goes see she says the house is right off the raod they were on she made the house sound so awsome that the kids want to see the house to so the dad said the would go see the house. When the road is very bumpy and they get into crase which makes the grandma remeber that the house was not in georgia but in tennessee. After the crase three men show up carrying gun the grandma reckonizes one of the men as the Misfit who was a killer one by one the muder the family the grandma being last.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays