Preview

Summary Of Good Man Is Hard To Find

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
787 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Good Man Is Hard To Find
The author begins “Good Man is Hard to Find”, with introduction of the family that are debating where to go on vacation Tennessee or Florida. The main character is Grandmother, dishonest person that pretend to be a proper lady, her emotionally unstable son Bailey, his wife and their three children.Despite grandmother’s comments about serial killer that escape from federal prison, Bailey insisted on family go to Florida, making this the grates mistake that would cost him and his family their lives. The violent criminal,who convinced that is no real pleasure in life “but meanness”(553), killed entire family without any compunction.
Through the story line, the main question is who is the good man? Is it grandmother’s only son Bailey, who is taking care about …show more content…
But in contrast to other characters his is not position him self as a superior person, admitting his mistakes, not pretending believing in God, but clearly rejecting him “Jesus showing everything off balance. It was the same case with him as with me” (553), Misfit even compare himself to God.Through the story his personality and opinion doesn't change, he stick with what he believes is right, and makes it very clear.He believed that it was a mistake him being convicted and punished for what he has not done ,but he was not asking for salivation,or forgiveness “ I don’t want no help…I’m doing all right by my self” (552) , he would admit during the conversation with Grandmother. But on the other hand he confess “I ain’t a good man , but I ain’t the worst in the world neither”(551). Moreover ,before he killed Grandmother, she would almost scream to him “I know you are good man”, he would agree with her bringing example of his parents “God never made a finer women than my mother and my daddy’s heart was pure gold” (550).Hence, is Misfit is misguided, mentally ill figure or a cold hearted, violent
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Summary
    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Summary

    In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, a family plans a vacation to Florida, in which it does not turn out as they had expected. The story begins with a family from Georgia consisting of the father Bailey, his wife, baby, two kids John Wesley and June Star, and their grandmother whose name is never announced. Among planning their trip to Florida, the Grandmother suggest they go elsewhere, justifying herself saying that there is a misfit on the loose and he’s heading that direction. The rest of the family does not take her suggestion seriously, and so the next day they all leave for Florida, including the grandmother. The grandmother makes the decision to bring her cat along for the trip as well while not telling any of the other family. During the trip, the grandmother tells the children stories and plays games with…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Foreshadowing "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Foreshadowing "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"

    familiar, but she cannot put it together. As she realizes who he is the grandmother asks him if he is The…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Grandmother In Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find
    • 2190 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Grandmother In Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    The Misfit begins by shifting his stance slightly on the factuality of Jesus’ actions. Namely, in the past he had been rather cynical about the event, as if without any proof of it existence he was free to do as he pleased. However, he now seems to accept the fact that he was not there to see Jesus raise the dead, but does not dismiss it as impossible: “I wasn’t there so I can’t say He didn’t” (14).…

    • 2190 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find
    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    Throughout the story, the grandmother’s selfish attitude is apparent. She believes from the beginning that she is the voice of reason and everything she says is right. In response to taking the children to Florida instead of Tennessee, she insists “You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad. They never have been to east Tennessee” (59). However, in saying this she has no intentions on helping the children be broad, she says this so the children’s parents will take them to Tennessee, away from The Misfit. Eventually, it is this self-centered attitude that leads to the family’s demise, as she suggests that they take a detour to visit an old plantation in her neighborhood from when she was a young lady. It is in this segment of the story that O’Connor’s religious overtones come into effect. Once The Misfit and his crew of fellow prison escapees shoot the rest of the family, he and the grandmother are alone and she begins to attempt to bring him to Jesus. However, the irony at this point is that The Misfit may be more in touch with Jesus than she is. He says, “Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead,” The Misfit continued, “and he shouldn’t have done it. He thrown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then it’s nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and if He…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor
    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    Once the Grandmother and her family was in the tragic accident, it was as if it was fate for her and the Misfit to cross path. The Misfit talked to the Grandmother about religion and how he did come from a good family, but he also spoke of his thoughts of God such as, “Jesus thown everything off balance” (O’Connor 436). The Misfit was speaking of the fact that if God have not let the dead rise maybe he and the Grandmother would have not crossed paths and maybe he would not be blames for his daddy’s death. On the other hand, O’Connor constantly revealed that her characters are not the only ones that has come across a serial killer that talked about God, but the fact that is life and no one knows how it will play out but…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    AP Lit Essay
    • 1007 Words
    • 3 Pages

    AP Lit Essay

    In the beginning of the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” The Misfit was alienated by the Grandmother by her exclaim of how bad of a person he is. And he is one of the many things wrong with the country. Then when the Grandmother meets The Misfit in person she suddenly has a “change of heart” about him. As The Grandmother advises The Misfit to pray to Jesus, Hiram and Bobby Lee return from the woods dragging Bailey's shirt and The Misfit puts it on. Then Bobby Lee and Hiram politely help up The Mother and June Star to take them back into the woods, as well. The Grandmother begins to panic and resumes trying to convince The Misfit to find Jesus. She repeats, "I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady." She thus contradicts herself because earlier in the story she clams of his bad parents. Then she bargains with him, offering all her money to save her life. When The Grandmother hears the pistol shots that announce the deaths of the rest of her family deep in the woods, she cries out, "Bailey Boy!" for her son. The Misfit reminds her that no one has raised the dead except for Jesus, and opines that Jesus shouldn't have done that: the only pleasure he finds in life is "meanness." He reveals his lack of faith in God by saying that he can't believe Jesus even raised the dead, since he wasn't there to see it, and blames this lack of knowledge for how he has turned out. Noticing he looks like he is about to cry, The Grandmother cries out, "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" and touches…

    • 1007 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Rhetorical Analysis Essay
    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    In addition it demonstrates the lack of compassion and fatherly representation he was given as a younger child. For most of his life he had been struggling with adapting to the values of the everyday society, and inevitably ends up killing more people as a way to survive the torment of “punishment”. His previous life, in the penitentiary, didn’t serve as a force of justice, but rather it provided a way for Misfit to undergo a disturbing transformation into a spiteful murder. In addition, Misfit’s dialect demonstrates how the hateful and misjudgment of our society can negatively affect the way a person carries on with their…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    In Flannery O 'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find'
    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Flannery O 'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find'

    The grandmother had the capacity to be a good woman; she attained grace, at gunpoint, and was able to see who she truly was, and her true lack of superiority. Seeing The Misfit vulnerable and confused when he cries out,” if I had been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now”, the grandmother was able to clearly see that she and The Misfit are two of the same (554); they are both sinners who will suffer the ultimate punishment regardless of their moral standings. The grandmother attains truth that they are both humans who make mistakes and that she is no better than a criminal. Right before she dies, she forgives and then accepts The Misfit as one of her own –they are equals. The Misfit sees the clarity and grace that the grandmother receives through her redemption which strikes him and brings about a change of heart. “Without his glasses,” as a shield, we are able to see,” The Misfit’s eyes were red-rimmed,” as though he was fighting back the sentiments that were arising from the grandmother’s touch (554); The Misfit displays compassion, maybe even regret for his crime. The moment the grandmother reached God’s grace and cried out,” why you’re one of my babies. You are one of my own,” she is showing that she has found the ability to see others with kindness and understanding (554). The final words, ”it’s no real…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Misfit
    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Misfit

    The Misfit as an external force is the one that helps the Grandma realize how much of a conceited life she has lived. She uses the name of “Jesus” so often that the word itself seems “…as if she might be cursing,” which shows how she has tricked herself into believing she is a devout Christian (O’Connor 308). Minutes before her passing, her soul is redeemed from the fantasy she lived in, to the hard truth about her religion when the Misfit involves Jesus by saying “Maybe he didn’t raise the dead”…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Misfit And The Grandmother Analysis
    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Misfit And The Grandmother Analysis

    Grace, an important theme to O'Connor, is given to both The Grandmother and The Misfit, neither of whom is particularly deserving. As she realizes what is happening, The Grandmother begins to beg The Misfit to pray so that Jesus will help him. Right before The Misfit kills her, The Grandmother calls him one of her own children, recognizing him as a fellow human capable of being saved by God's Grace. Even though he murders her, the Misfit is implied to have achieved some level of Grace as well when he ends the story by saying, "It's no real pleasure in life." Earlier in the story, he claimed the only pleasure in life was meanness. The glorification of the past is prevalent in this story through the character of The Grandmother, who expresses nostalgia for the way things used to be in the South. Her mistake about the "old plantation that she had visited in this…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Misfit Beliefs
    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Misfit Beliefs

    For example, the main clash of beliefs happened when the Grandmother begs the Misfit to pray to Jesus. The Misfit then brings up the idea that, if Jesus could bring back the dead, then the Grandmother would have no reason to fear losing her and her family’s lives. Dumbfounded by this logic, the Grandmother begins to retract her argument of religion and moves towards the idea that the Misfit comes from a “…nice family”(pg.151-152) When she makes this argument, she makes it in the assumption that the Misfit would not shoot an elderly lady as she is of a higher class. However, this assumption quickly falls apart when the Misfit ends up shooting her in the chest three…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Character Analysis Essay
    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Character Analysis Essay

    For instance during this conversation she exclaims, "Jesus!" the old lady cried. "You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give you all the money I've got!" (O’Connor 715). The reader begins to feel as though this is just simply a poor old woman on the verge of a breakdown. Finally the use of actions to determine the Misfit’s characterization is very different from the rest of the characters. Stephen Bandy in his article "`One of My Babies': The Misfit and the Grandmother" states that “Although the Misfit is not physically present until the final pages, his influence hangs over the story almost from the beginning” (Bandy 107). The reader knows the misfit is not a “good man” by what the grandmother reads from the newspaper in the beginning of the story and also what is discussed throughout. This is also supported by the action of the Misfit having the whole family killed after the accident happened. However, at the end of the story we get a glimpse the opposite through the misfit’s actions. Margaret Earley Whitt, in her book Understanding Flannery O’Connor describes the Misfit’s…

    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Misfit's Past Does Not Excuse His Sins
    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Misfit's Past Does Not Excuse His Sins

    His actions demonstrate his continual persistence in acting contrary to what is moral. His killing of the grandmother is indeed grave matter that he deliberately consents to. He fully knows what he is doing when he kills the grandmother; his past actions and words demonstrate that he knows his conscience has been malformed. His obstinate refusal to seek the truth and persist in error fulfill the third condition needed for his sin to be mortal. The Misfit must serve reminder that one’s past does not lessen one’s culpability for one’s…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis
    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis

    The grandmother dramatically tried to get their attention to make them stop to help. The grandmother saw the man and had a feeling she knew the man that came to help. The grandmother, then put the pieces together and realized that the man was the Misfit. The grandmother mentioned to the Misfit if he would actually plan on hurting a lady. Rather than thinking of her family, the grandmother fights to try and save her own life. The grandmother was was confronting to the Misfit that he was a good man and does not want to harm a lady. The grandmother also began to appeal the characteristics of a Christian to the Misfit. By trying to reach out and reasoning with the Misfit it causes the Misfit to take drastic measures. The Misfit gathered each family member one by one leading them into the woods which resulted in the death of each family…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Perspective Essay
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A Good Man Is Hard To Find Perspective Essay

    The grandmother does not need to see the good to believe that it is there so she believes that everyone is capable of it. Unlike the grandma, The Misfit believes that if good is not shown or given to him, achieving a wicked thing is fine and morally okay. As a result of these different perspectives from growing up so differently, the characters develop very different morals. ‘O Conner’s intent with this idea is that morals are not necessarily viewed the same way and can explain why people do things that are considered “wrong”. In this time period certain things were considered a social norm when really it was not; things that dealt with race, and gender are examples of this. The author’s intent was to explain why people thought it was okay to use discrimination and that because they were raised that way the people could not see that what they were doing is wrong. At the end of the short story when The Misfit says “It’s no real pleasure in life” (11) that is when we see the shift of morals that was happening in that time period as well; when people were starting to stand up for what they believed…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics