A Good Man Is Hard To Find Compare And Contrast Essay

“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.
The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is centered around the grandmother who is very self centered. When the family stops for lunch at a diner
and talk about how you cant trust people and everyone betrays you somehow it is foreshadowing for the way the grandmother would act in the future. She keeps the conversation centered around her most of the story and when the family has a run in with the misfit and his two other men she does not beg for the innocent mothers life or the child, she begs for her own. Even the misfit once says that she would be a good person if someone held a gun to her head all the time. In the end she still is killed even after pleading for her life.
The societies the two main characters of each story live in very different societies.
“Saboteur” is set at the end of the Cultural Revolution china experienced during the 1960s. The oppressive government during this time is shown through their power over the situation with Mr. Chiu, the officer was the one to clearly spill purposefully on Mr. Chiu and his wife however when Mr. Chiu stood up for himself and pointed out the officers actions Mr. Chiu was the one arrested for “causing a disturbance”. The situation occurred at a crowded train station with many witnesses and although there is no proof, when the witnesses where asked what they say the omitted what the officer did and just said that Mr. Chiu was causing a scene and resisting arrest. The setting of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is Georgia in the 1940s and the main focus would be the misfit and his outlook on himself. The misfit said that he doesn’t consider himself a bad person however his crimes did not exemplify a good man. This story shows how good and bad is very circumstantial and depending on the eyes of the
beholder.
“Saboteur” has a similar character but one that goes on a different journey and instead of being too prideful to change he ends up doing the right thing to help another. Mr. Chiu made some selfish choices like making a big deal about the officer spilling on him and his wife leading to his arrest and not being grateful to his wife for making an effort and sending the lawyer who she thought could help him. After this part in “saboteur” the stories differ because in the end after seeing the lawyer being tutored he swallows his pride and confesses to the crime. The two characters are very similar throughout the stories however in the end one did the right thing and over came his stubbornness, while the other allowed for innocent lives to be lost in order to try and save her own skin but still ends up dead.