“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a story written by Flannery O’Connor, a story of contrasts, gruesome drama, and divine grace. The nameless grandmother, her son Bailey, his wife and their children are preparing for a trip to Florida. The story takes place in Georgia and on the road as the family travels. The Misfit, the second major character of the story, is a serial killer who just escaped a federal prison and is on the loose. The unfortunate encounter the family has with the Misfit and his gang, sets them on their final path to death. The grandmother, the major character of the story, is defined by her narrow views of the world and her manipulative methods that sustain her selfishness.
The grandmother likes to be perceived by others as a respected lady of the old south and she wants to be treated according to her status. The way she appears to other people is essential to her, that is why she put on “a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets…and a navy blue dress”(430) in case of an accident everyone would know that she was a lady. With every occasion, she places herself in the context of the old south, "In my time," said the grandmother, folding her thin veined fingers, "children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then."(430). This makes her feel like a lady and at the same time serves as a justification for respect, the well deserved respect a proper lady should enjoy. Being a lady is tied to the way things were in the past even though this came at the expense of the” Little niggers in the country” that “don’t have things like we do”(430). The grandmother, is evidently a self-centered character that confirms the superficiality of her “good blood” when she attempts to manipulate the Misfit in order to save her life. She expects that a serial killer would recognize her status and "wouldn't shoot a lady"(437). Her motivation comes from the nostalgia