A Good Man essay

Misfit :
Definitely round. He is a murderer. He lacks apathy for most of the family, but he takes time to talk to the grandmother. He is from a "good" family and seems to know how to talk the talk of a good southern boy. He actually seems touched by the grandmother's words, yet he is quickly repulsed by his apathy. He almost seemed like he was going to help out the stranded family until they reccognized them.

The grandma is an example of a round/dynamic character because she has varied traits and her character changes during the story. She is caring because she does not want to leave the cat at home be itself, in fear that the cat will get hurt. Also, she is caution, warning her son about the speed limit and not to exceed the limit because patrolmen are hiding in order to catch law breakers. She is observant and appreciates the simple things in life, such as “stone mountain; the blue granite… the brilliant red clay banks…” On the way, she spots a “little Negro child” on the side of the road and she said “if I could paint, I’d paint that picture,” which shows her sincerity. The grandma is also funny, when John Wesley asked “where’s the plantation?” she responded, “Gone with the wind.” The grandmother is respectful towards the earth; she did not let the children throw the box and the paper napkins out the window. At times she feels embarrassed because of the way her grandchildren acts. The grandmother starts off sable then she became emotional.
Another round/dynamic character is the Misfit. When the Misfit first encounters the family, he greets them with “Good afternoon.” When the grandmother “began to cry” the “Misfit reddened.” This shows that the Misfit has compassion towards the grandmother that in seeing her cry he feels guilty. He sees the grandmother upset so he tries to comfort her by telling her “don’t you get upset. Sometimes a man says thing he don’t mean. I don’t reckon he meant to talk to you thataway.” At one point, the Misfit apologizes to the grandmother and the daughter in law for being shirtless in-front of them. The Misfit seems like a caring guy, but in the end he is a barbarian. He had the son, the daughter in law, and the two children killed. In the end, he shoots the grandmother “three times through the chest.”
Flat characters have only one or two noticeable traits, and these traits do not change.
Static character, remain the same throughout the narrative
In contrast, June star and John Wesley are flat/static characters. Throughout the whole narrative both June Star and John Wesley are rude and has no manner. First of all, they never call the grandmother by her name or “grandmother,” they only call her “she.” The manner in which the children speak to the grandmother shows their lack of respect and their rudeness. When the grandmother did not want to go to Florida, John Wesley said “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?” and June Star said “She wouldn’t stay at home for a million bucks” “Afraid she’d miss something. She has to go everywhere we go.” At the restaurant, the owner wife asked June Star, “would you like to come be my little girl?” and June Star responded, “No I certainly wouldn’t,” “I wouldn’t live in a broken down place like this for a million bucks!” which made the grandmother embarrassed. In the car, the children was yelling and screaming at their parents until they get their way.
The reason to have round/dynamic and flat/static characters is so that they can contradict one another. If a narrative only has one character type then the narrative won’t be as engaging to the readers.The round/dynamic characters add excitement to the narrative because these characters are unpredictable, one never knows what they are going to say or do by Text-Enhancenext.
On the other hand, the flat/static characters are boring. They are simply there to make the narrative complete by having varies characters. The different characters types in a narrative allow the reader to compare and contrast the characters

The Misfit[->0], from Flannery O'Connor[->1]'s short story titled A Good Man Is Hard to Find[->2], seems to me to be a very realistic character. Although the reader's first impression of him is very much a stereotype, O'Connor causes his character to be the only rounded one among a group of flat[->3], one-dimensional people. His reality is paradoxically heightened further by the predictable plot she puts him into. This definitely reflects on the symbolism that O'Connor is using within the story.
O'Connor intends A Good Man Is Hard to Find to be the study of a deeply conflicted character. The Misfit wants on one level to be good, or to be known[->4] as good, but he can't rationalize away or separate himself from his actions. At the same time as he's executing a family, he's trying to explain why he's only doing what is necessary[->5]. He also seems to feel some type of connection with the grandmother, as if they're both basically of the same substance[->6], however dissimilar their lives have been.
After reading through the short story a few times, I realized that the Misfit is meant to symbolize Satan[->7]. His characterization as a misfit, murderer, deceiver and escaped convict are just the most obvious similarities between the two beings. Both his revelations about himself and his obsession with Jesus Christ[->8] bear out this comparison,.

[->0] - http://everything2.com/title/The+Misfit
[->1] - http://everything2.com/title/Flannery+O%2527Connor
[->2] - http://everything2.com/title/A+Good+Man+Is+Hard+to+Find
[->3] - http://everything2.com/title/flat
[->4] - http://everything2.com/title/known
[->5] - http://everything2.com/title/necessary
[->6] - http://everything2.com/title/the+same+substance
[->7] - http://everything2.com/title/Satan
[->8] - http://everything2.com/title/Jesus+Christ