Summary Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

Socio-historical Background of ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’

‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by American writer, Flannery O’Connor, was written in 1953 but only published in 1955 in her collection of short stories. She was born in Savannah, Georgia. Although the story does not specify where Bailey and his family resided, the readers are given description of the journey they undertake during their vacation and that includes Georgia. The two elements that are almost consistent in all her stories are the influence of Catholicism and the Southern region she grew up in. Her stories always featured Southern characters and exposed issues such as racial tension and religious hypocrisy. She also regularly raised questions on morality. Another notable aspect of her works is violence that is frequently present in her stories. O’Connor claimed that characters are subjected to violence because only when they are close to dying would the true essence of a character be exposed. This is when the moment of grace will be bestowed upon the character. Therefore, she claimed that it was not ‘in spite of’ but rather ‘because of’ her strong religious belief that she incorporated such gruesome violence in her stories.
The time frame that the story takes place is not explicitly mentioned but the readers can guess that it is somewhere in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s which would fit the period in which she wrote the story.
The grandmother makes a reference to “Gone with the Wind” and the book was published in 1936 whereas the movie was only released in 1939. There is no indication of war so it is safe to assume that the story occurred after World War II. This assumption is also based upon the grandmother mentioning that Europe acted as though the United States of America was made of money. This indicates the end of the war and the perception of other nations regarding the wealth of America at the time. Another intimation of the era is the way the grandmother dresses so as to be seen as a
lady. 1950’s witnessed the summit of the American Civil Rights Movement. Before 1954, schools were segregated where the schools for African American children were far more inferior when compared to the facilities provided for the white children. Even drinking fountains were separate for the races. Although the 15th Amendment of the Constitution that was ratified in 1870 granted African Americans the right to vote, they still suffered from racial discrimination, poll taxes and terrors imposed upon them, especially in the South. Flannery O’Connor often addressed the racial tension in her stories. Even though this particular story is not centred on the theme of racism, the readers get a fleeting glimpse into the mindset of the grandmother when she exclaims how cute the little black child is. She uses derogatory term of ‘pickaninny’ and talks about how she would like to paint him, treating him as an object of amusement than a person. That said, O’Connor’s faith in religion and morality as well as her experience living in the South strongly impacted this story.