Preview

Research Paper: a Good Man Is Hard to Find

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2442 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Research Paper: a Good Man Is Hard to Find
Research Paper: A Good Man is Hard to Find
A good man really is hard to find. But what is the real definition of a real man? Maybe it is not just the prince charming you see in fairy tales or the perfect guy walking down Sixth Ave. that you pass by everyday to work. Maybe a good guy is simply someone that is good what they do. In this case the relationship between the grandmother and the misfit is just that. The only thing is if the reader sees it as clearly as the author would like them too or simply as she does. The setting of the story is never really clear to the reader. The author never really comes out and says where and when the story takes place, but with a few clues an idea is given on a pretty clear setting of “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The time period begins in the mid-twentieth century. In the first half of the story, the family is at their home in Atlanta, Georgia. The author never really says that they are in Atlanta, but in the story the grandmother writes down that it will take them approximately take them 20 minutes to reach the outskirts of the city. When the family begins on their trip to East Tennessee instead of Florida early that morning, the grandmother observes it’s a beautiful day, not to hot nor cold. They pass up many old plantations and open fields. The grandmother also observes the details in the scenery she describes “the Stone Mountain; the blue granite that in some places came up to both sides of the highway; the brilliant red clay banks slightly streaked with purple; and the various crops that made rows of green lace-work on the ground. The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled”. –O’Conner. They are obviously in the open country and used to seeing the old plantations because there was really no excitement from the family with the children reading magazines and the mother falling asleep, so with this clue as well gave a hint on where the family was from. During their long road trip the



Cited: "Symbol - Definition of Symbol by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia."Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Farlex,Inc., 2011. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/symbol>. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory." Shmoop: Homework Help, Teacher Resources, Test Prep. Shmoop University, Inc., 2011. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.shmoop.com/good-man-hard-to-find/symbolism-imagery.html>. "Hearse - Definition of Hearse at YourDictionary.com." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Free Online at Your Dictionary. 1966-2011. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/hearse>. "Flannery O 'Connor 's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find": Who 's the Real Misfit? | EDSITEment."EDSITEment | The Best of the Humanities on the Web. National Environment for the Humanities. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/flannery-oconnors-good-man-hard-find-whos-real-misfit>.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    “You’ve got good blood.” “I know you come from nice people,(504) cried the grandmother. “Pray!”(505) she pleads using grace and religion to plead to the better nature of what she thinks is still a good man. The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a family on vacation to Florida. The family takes a detour down a dirt road to look at an old plantation house that the grandmother tells a story about. She describes the house in such an intriguing way that most of the family is very eager to see it. However on the way the grandmother realizes that the house isn’t in Georgia at all but in fact in Tennessee, where she was longing to go instead of Florida. This startles her and she begins knocking things around and the cat jumps out of the basket landing on Bailey’s neck causing the car accident that leaves them stranded on the lonely road. When a passing car stops to help the grandmother quickly recognizes one of the men as “The Misfit”, a dangerous man who has escaped from prison. The grandmother confronts him and he tells her “It probably would have been better for your family if you had not recognized me at all lady.”(504) While the…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Conner depicts a southern family, who is at odds about where they should go for a family vacation. They will eventually agree to head for Florida, once in the car the family will go through a series of events that will shapen each indivudal character. One of the main characters in the story, “The Grandmother”, who is known for her critical , savvy ways gives the audience her definition of what exactly it means to be a lady. The Grandmother and her family will be put to death by an escaped criminal by the name of the Misfit, who the grandmother warns the family of before there voyage to Florida. In the story one will see that although the Grandmother had not been a known convicted felon, like the Misfit, her way for thinking and immoral behavior was no different than that of the Misfit and that they were alike in many different ways. Although the Grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to find”, tries to portray herself has a good role model and a Christian lady one will later see as story evolve that she was a woman contrary of her word and was indeed the ultimate “misfit”.…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The tragic heroes and narcissists in the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor are the Grandmother and the Misfit. However, the focus is on the Grandmother and how she is in the grandiosity phase of being a tragic hero. There are personality characteristics associated with this phase, some of which the Grandmother has. She feels entitlement to get and do what she wants. In the story she takes her pet cat with her on the trip even though Bailey tells her not to. The Grandmother is a judgmental person. She judges other people based on petty things like clothes or first impressions. Finally, the Grandmother’s omniscience personality gets her killed.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good 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

    Flannery O’Conner short story “A Good Man is hard to Find” Is about this grandmother who is plotting to get her own way through whatever means is necessary. So the fact is “The grandmother’s whole personality is built upon the fictions she tells herself and her family” (Schenck, 340). “She creates the stories behind the visual phenomena she sees and explains the relationships between events or her own actions which have no logic other than that which she lends them” (Schenck, 340). The grandmother who imaged a life she once had that turn to a tragedy of reality for her and her family. She does not admit it, but her thoughts manifest themselves physically and emotionally. The grandmother got so embarrassed that her cheek was red and her eyes widen and she begins to stomp her feet and this really upset her at that moment.…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good 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

    The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a family who goes on a road trip. The reader is introduced to a character that first appears to be confused about life and religion but later comes across as more knowledgeable about religion and his own existence philosophies than the other characters portrayed in the essay. The characters consist of the Grandmother, the parents, the two kids, the cat, and of course the Misfit, a murderer who had escaped from jail.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 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

    Sonny's Blues Vs Find

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the story revolves around identifying and defining what a "good man" as the grandmother in the story uses the term loosely on Red Sammy, a restaurant owner, to the Misfit, who is a criminal murderer.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    1. In the short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the characters portrayal gives the grandmother a special quality. Bailey, the grandmother’s son, is a hardnosed man that seems to be gripey and annoyed with his self centered mother at most times. He makes the grandmother seem needy and pesters him. For example when the grandmother asks him to make a pit stop at the house, “Bailey looks straight ahead. His jaw bone was as rigid as a horseshoe. “No,” he said.” (par.49) Both of the children, John Wesley and June Star, are obnoxious rowdy children that seem to not know respect or manners in any case. The way June Star refers to Red Sammy’s as a “broken down place” and is rude to Sammy’s wife, is just an example. (par. 31) I think that all of the characters help show how self centered and manipulative the grandmother really is. While getting dressed, the grandmother gets dressed to the hilt so if there were an accident, “anyone seeing her on the highway would know at once that she was a lady.” (par. 12) The Misfit is a mean and ruthless convict that will take anything into his own hands. The way he interacts with the grandmother makes me think that she is even more selfish. The grandmother pleads for her own safety and her life as the rest of the family is killed. All of the family and the Misfit help paint the picture of the grandmother’s character in their own way. Overall, I think that the grandmother is a selfish, self-centered woman.…

    • 1976 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Through use of superiority and racist attitudes, the grandmother keeps the idea of the “Old South” alive. The setting of the story gives visual to those ideas through old buildings and style of roads. Together, these aspects of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” show the differences between the US now and the US of the 1950’s. Without the social prejudices of that time period, the story would lack the importance of the grandmother’s character which is to teach readers to be a more progressive…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Flannery O’Connor short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” was an amazing story. Ms. O’Connor wrote the short story in 1955 and even in today culture the story is still being analyzed as one of the most powerful and best seller short story in today society. The story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” begins with an family of six from Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1950. The family of six foundation started with the Grandmother (the husband mother), Bailey (the husband), the wife, the infant baby (girl), John Wesley (the oldest boy) and June Star (the second oldest girl). Bailey and his wife planned a trip to Florida for a family vacation. The grandmother wasn’t happy about the trip to Florida because she wanted the family to go to East Tennessee…

    • 1837 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” exemplifies what it means to be a fake. She is a liar, racist, and judger. All of these attributes go against the beliefs of the Catholic Church, but the grandmother does not have the self-awareness to notice. Her racist remarks are most clearly shown during the drive when the…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The South in the 1960s was a very difficult time period. It was the Southern Gothic. Flannery called this “the action of grace in the territory held largely by the devil” (357). “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the perfect example of this hypocritical period. White people saw themselves superior to everyone else, but were still kind of other races. The South’s status was very troubled in which the races, social class, and the religion were discriminated very often. The grandmother in the short story is a misfit herself, seeing herself superior to others, but relies on religion when she is in a difficult situation.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, O’Connor seems to suggest that only through conflicts can the “good” in people be found. The way that the grandmother seems to dwell in the past suggests that she believes that it would’ve been easier to find a “good” man a long time ago. To the grandmother, trying to find goodness today would prove to be very challenging and possibly even useless. Through the use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and metaphors, O’Connor develops the story’s theme.…

    • 946 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays