A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Irony Between the Grandmother & the Escapee

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Flannery O’Conner Renee’ Roethemeier

In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Conner, she expresses much irony between the Grandmother & the escapee. Initially, I thought the Grandmother was just a little bit pushy in trying to get what she wanted. She didn’t want to travel to Florida with her son, Bailey & his family, she wanted to go to Tennessee to visit with other family members. She had read in the paper that their was a murderer on the lose & that he was headed to Florida. She use the story to try to influence Bailey not to take them all there but instead to go to Tennessee, claiming that she would never take her own children to such a place that the “misfit” was going to be at for fear of endangering her children! Grandmother tried to guilt Bailey into siding with her & changing her mind. Of course, she was given the option of staying home, but even June Star, her granddaughter said, grandmother would never stay home, she would never let them go anywhere without her. June Star was almost sounding as if she didn’t want her grandmother to go, but once they all started on the trip to Florida, it was the grandmother that manipulated her grandchildren into whining to get their father to take a stop along the way to see an old house that has a secret panel in it. She enticed the children with a lie to get what she wanted, but as they traveled down the old dirt road, she begun to realize that the house she remembered wasn’t in Georgia at all, it was back in Tennessee, but before she really had a chance to tell, the cat that she was hiding jumped out & onto Bailey while he was driving causing the car to spin out of control. & roll. Bailey’s wife & the baby went flying out of the car, the rest managed to escape without serious injury as well.

Ironically, help did happen to come on this old dirt road that was apparently leading to no where. The men that stopped to help them after being waved down, wouldn’t you know, was the “Misfit” himself! Along with him were two other men. The grandmother struck up conversation immediately with the man, escapee. As they talked, she kept telling him he was a good man. He had good in his heart. Ironically, she continued to say that during her conversation with him, as his accomplices led Bailey, her own son to the woods and they all heard a gunshot. The accomplice returned with no Bailey. Grandmother would call out for “Bailey Boy”, but of course no answer. Shortly after that the misfit had the fellow take the children to woods. Pow, Pow, and he returns with no children. Grandmother never asked where they were or screamed in dismay. Instead, kept talking to the misfit and telling him he was a “good man”, reminding him that a good man wouldn’t hurt a lady now would he? Interestingly, grandmother only cared about her own safety all the way to the end. Ironically, the man and situation that she had tried to use to manipulate to get what she wanted was the exact thing that happened to her and her family! Sounds like an extreme case of karma!