Religion In A Good Man Is Hard To Find
The South is sometimes referred to as the “Bible belt”; this is due to its historically high population of religious people. One of these people, born and raised in Milledgeville, Georgia, is Flannery O’Connor, the well-known author of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. In this story, O’Connor writes about a family, the grandmother, Bailey, the mother of the children, and the three children, from rural Georgia who are murdered by an escaped convict called the Misfit. O’Connor’s message is irrefutably symbolic of the grace she believes we are offered through Jesus. O’Connor’s upbringing as a Catholic woman in the south had a great deal of influence on all of her work. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, author Flannery O’Connor uses religious allusions
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The grandmother is a religious woman, but she is not free of sin and evil tendencies. John Desmond mentions this evil in his review of O’Connor’s work writing, “Good and evil, as potentialities and as actualities, are inextricably intertwined in human beings, and this is true for both the Grandmother and the Misfit” (144). O’Connor’s familiarity with Catholicism and life in rural Georgia helps her portray an accurate depiction of small town life, and the major religious influence in the south. Even the Misfit is aware of an afterlife and the consequences of his own sins. The Misfit is “aware that good actions in and of themselves are insufficient for salvation” (Desmond, 148). He may be even more aware of this fact than the grandmother. O’Connor uses these characters to teach readers a lesson of the grace offered through salvation. As she does in many of her stories, O’Connor uses shocking tactics to expose the flaws in her characters in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. Commenting on the “shock factor” of the story, in her analysis of the story, Susan Larson writes, “Perhaps no other story better illustrates the ruthlessness with which she treats her characters. The grandmother and the Misfit would seem to be polar opposites, yet O’Connor scrutinizes and exposes them equally” (5). O’Connor exemplifies the diverse presence of sin in humanity and leaves readers with an understanding of grace of God, and how religion influences her
The grandmother is a religious woman, but she is not free of sin and evil tendencies. John Desmond mentions this evil in his review of O’Connor’s work writing, “Good and evil, as potentialities and as actualities, are inextricably intertwined in human beings, and this is true for both the Grandmother and the Misfit” (144). O’Connor’s familiarity with Catholicism and life in rural Georgia helps her portray an accurate depiction of small town life, and the major religious influence in the south. Even the Misfit is aware of an afterlife and the consequences of his own sins. The Misfit is “aware that good actions in and of themselves are insufficient for salvation” (Desmond, 148). He may be even more aware of this fact than the grandmother. O’Connor uses these characters to teach readers a lesson of the grace offered through salvation. As she does in many of her stories, O’Connor uses shocking tactics to expose the flaws in her characters in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. Commenting on the “shock factor” of the story, in her analysis of the story, Susan Larson writes, “Perhaps no other story better illustrates the ruthlessness with which she treats her characters. The grandmother and the Misfit would seem to be polar opposites, yet O’Connor scrutinizes and exposes them equally” (5). O’Connor exemplifies the diverse presence of sin in humanity and leaves readers with an understanding of grace of God, and how religion influences her