Summary Of O 'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find'

In A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Connor had challenged her audience in this whimsical tale of light humor and tragedy. What can be taken from this work is that she likes to go against the grain; deep into the underlying forces of morality. That is what has made her story so compelling and profound. This style of writing can inhibit many perspectives from her stories as to what to make of it. Many people have their own views on her hidden themes, symbols, and motifs. After reading some assessments from professional critics, they have certainly shed some light on the subject. What was most profound to me after reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find” was how O’Connor challenged the definition of “good”. Brinkmeyer’s analysis of how difficult it is for Christians to sympathize with her writing attacks this notion. He points out the Christian readers’ needs when it comes to ideal themes. “Ideal Christianity doesn’t exist, because anything the human touches, even Christian truth, he deforms slightly in his own image” (Brinkmeyer 167). O’Connor explains that the modern reader’s “sense of evil” is diluted, or lacking altogether, and so he has forgotten the price of restoration (Brinkmeyer 168).
Bryant’s analysis has widened my perspective of the story.
His analysis was meticulously calculated as he estimates the physical distance from the family’s departure to their bitter end. He also points out many foreshadowing symbols. The scene in which the grandmother points out a graveyard with five or six graves fenced off in the middle of a large cornfield. The misspelling of the word, “Toombsboro.” His deepest finding theorizes a biblical reference of the only fictitious town named “Timothy.” It certainly is a deviated theory but carries very reasonable merit to it as O’Connor is widely known for her religious
themes. Subjectively, Butler’s analysis seemed tangled, and some I could not relate to them at all. I do not understand some of the references she uses, however, I can see that they are supportive of the thesis she is trying to convey. “Stephens fails to maintain the double vision that O’Connor used in blending the laughable and the serious in her tales” (Butler 153). Butler undergoes an analysis of O’Connor’s use of humor to blanket the underlying dark, hidden themes that she uses.
O’Connor’s writing drew many perspectives from her audience. Her classic tales separated from the norm and drew controversy from her critics. Her writing was incredibly unique and carried an essence of realism. It was that style of writing that had made such an impression on me.

Works Cited
Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz, and Samuel Cohen. Literature The Human Experience. 11th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2013. 152-69. Print.