Fiction: O'Connor's Quotes
Fiction Essay; O’Connor Quotes
O’Connor’s quotes/theories: “It is the extreme situation that best reveals who we are essentially” and “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it” as it relates to the writing, “A good Man is Hard to Find” in which the main character, Grandmother, who lives with her only son and his family and who is domineering at best, but believes that she is a good, graceful, well-reared, and a devout Christian. While on a family trip during which the Grandmother insists on driving down a dirt road to see an old plantation home she once visited, they have a terrible accident. The Misfit, an escaped convict, stumbles across the family after their accident and whom Grandmother recognizes after seeing news reports. The extreme situation is of course that the Grandmother realizes it is her selfishness that has caused her entire family to be killed and she is probably next. While The Misfit and his friends contemplate killing the entire family, Grandmother attempts to relate to him and his “class” stating, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you? “I know you come from nice people.” (582) While The Misfit seems to have good manners by apologizing to the ladies for not wearing a shirt and calling them ma’am, this is not a time for manners, and it is obvious he has no remorse for his earlier mistakes as he tells Grandmother he cannot remember why he was sent to the penitentiary. He further states, “Jesus thown everything off balance.” “I call myself The Misfit because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment.” (584) This is also the family’s experience of The Misfit’s violence. It is here that Grandmother realizes she is not the person she purports to be. It is through The Misfit that she achieves grace, and accepts that she is selfish and perhaps not a good person.
As to the quote, “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it”, while Grandmother realizes her
O’Connor’s quotes/theories: “It is the extreme situation that best reveals who we are essentially” and “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it” as it relates to the writing, “A good Man is Hard to Find” in which the main character, Grandmother, who lives with her only son and his family and who is domineering at best, but believes that she is a good, graceful, well-reared, and a devout Christian. While on a family trip during which the Grandmother insists on driving down a dirt road to see an old plantation home she once visited, they have a terrible accident. The Misfit, an escaped convict, stumbles across the family after their accident and whom Grandmother recognizes after seeing news reports. The extreme situation is of course that the Grandmother realizes it is her selfishness that has caused her entire family to be killed and she is probably next. While The Misfit and his friends contemplate killing the entire family, Grandmother attempts to relate to him and his “class” stating, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you? “I know you come from nice people.” (582) While The Misfit seems to have good manners by apologizing to the ladies for not wearing a shirt and calling them ma’am, this is not a time for manners, and it is obvious he has no remorse for his earlier mistakes as he tells Grandmother he cannot remember why he was sent to the penitentiary. He further states, “Jesus thown everything off balance.” “I call myself The Misfit because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment.” (584) This is also the family’s experience of The Misfit’s violence. It is here that Grandmother realizes she is not the person she purports to be. It is through The Misfit that she achieves grace, and accepts that she is selfish and perhaps not a good person.
As to the quote, “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it”, while Grandmother realizes her