Introduction
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by O’Connor is a magnificent piece of writing in the genre of Gothic short stories. The work’s narrative concerns a family of Southerners planning to travel to Florida, where a murderous convict has been recently seen. As a result, the family is tragically killed by the criminal after an automobile crash (O’Connor). The story has a rich setting, which provides the features of its main characters and helps to convey the theme in a new way.
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by O’Connor
The story’s title makes a reader expect a casual narrative about marriage troubles. Moreover, the first scenes of the work do not make the ending (murder of the family by The Misfit) obvious since the concerns about him come from the old lady who complains about everything. The story’s narrator seems to convey the details neutrally, in the third person and past tense, as though a columnist observes them. The story’s protagonist is the grandmother of the family. The antagonist is The Misfit; the other characters are vaguely described in work and play roles of the old lady’s subjects to whom she can complain. The grandmother seems to be the only character that changes her behavior throughout the work. The story takes place at the beginning of the 19th century, in the South of the US, which is relatively uniform wherever the characters go (O’Connor). The author employs a gothic style, dark humor, and symbols, such as the grandmother’s hat, which signifies that she is a lady of high descent. The theme of the story is the uselessness of the old-fashioned Southern moral.
Conclusion
To conclude, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by O’Connor is an exciting and intriguing Gothic story with an unusual Southern setting. Its theme of the failure of the remnants of past notions about morals is demonstrated through its narrative and characters. As a result, the story creates an ironic atmosphere that ends in the emergence of a chilling feeling because of the unexpected finale.
Work Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Faber Stories. Main, Faber and Faber, 2019.