A Good Man Is Hard To Find Theme Essay

Morality, religion, and death are strong themes in "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The subject of good versus evil is emphasized in the writing, the grandmother routinely enforces this idea of a good man and what it means to be morally good; the grandmother believes she herself is a lady, a woman of superiority, a façade that quickly dissolves when the grandmother's faults and weaknesses reveal her to be far from good. The grandmother is manipulative, selfish, materialistic, and self-righteous. The grandmother's definition of good is shown to be misguided and inconstant when she applies the term to both Sammy Lee and the Misfit. The story impels readers to question morality and what it means to be good or evil. In the story there are numerous
The Misfit is an allusion to God; he judges the family, and executes them on account of the grandmother's mistakes. The grandmother is the sole reason for the family's demise, her selfish and manipulative choices lead the family to its downfall. She condemns her family when, without a thought she exclaims the Misfit's identity without contemplating its consequences; the punishment for her sins is death, the condemnation of the family as a result of the grandmother's actions is proven when the Misfit states, "it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of recognized me." (page 8). Each member of the family is bad in their own way, although the grandmother repents herself when she experiences a state of grace; despite the Misfit being the murderer of her entire family she is able to feel compassion for him which is signified by her attempt to physically reach out to him. The grandmother's spiritual enlightenment is indicated in her form in death, the text states, "Hiram and Bobby Lee returned from the woods and stood over the ditch, looking down at the grandmother who sat and half lay in a puddle of blood with her legs crosses under her like a child's and her face smiling up at the cloudless