“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor continues to raise numerous questions. The book represents a great example of the Gothic Fiction of the American South. Nevertheless, it has some distinctive features, such as multiple references to social issues and religion. The book has a darkly menacing undertone, which is augmented to the specific locus of evil that still haunted the South: the Civil War (Flint 119). The philosophical issues strongly related to the darkness of the atmosphere are of particular interest when analyzing the plot. Flannery O’Connor’s unique style and the passion which her stories radiate make understanding the original idea behind them a challenging and intriguing task.
The plot is centered around the family, which drives from one Southern state to another. The author does not provide much information on the characters’ backgrounds and even does not give many details on their appearance and manners, except for the grandmother. Nevertheless, multiple dialogues help readers understand that the family cannot be called a happy one, as most characters have crucial drawbacks and fail to interact with each other. Bailey, the father, is too weak to resist his mother’s extravagant desires. His wife probably loves their children too much to show any control over them. The spoiled kids enjoy freedom showing no respect to anyone.
The grandmother is a hypocritical old woman who constantly misses the good old days when “people did right” and children were respectful. She utilizes the ideals of morality as the veil, which allows her to act at her discretion while still pretending to be a “lady” and stay judgemental under any circumstances. The grandmother seems to find the greatest pleasure in others catering to all her needs. The grandmother uses any methods she finds appropriate, even if they involve children, and spoil the already poor family atmosphere.
Analyzing the book may be confusing without studying the biography of the author. The highly controversial final scene of the book has been interpreted in various ways. Despite O’Connor’s great sense of humor and abundance of sarcastic scenes and dialogues in her stories, the main idea of this book is, nevertheless, centered around the author’s beliefs. According to Ismail and Macedonia, O’Connor was convinced that a writer’s function could only be stated in terms of their religion (35). The meaning of life for her was centered in the Redemption by Christ, and the idea behind her works has a strong correlation with such an approach. Thus, scholars have enough reasoning when they state that the grandmother’s behavior in the final scene was an act of grace and charity.
In the final part of the story, the grandmother stays arrogant and stubborn. The strange phrases she uses and the inability to think strategically lead to the death of all her family members. The grandmother is used to being treated as a superior, and even the three men’s guns do not bother her. However, her behavior changes dramatically when she realizes that her death is inevitable. Despite pleading for her own life while her relatives are in greater danger, she suddenly undergoes a drastic transition and starts discussing some episodes from the Gospel with the man who is about to kill her. When having no other choice, this woman suddenly realizes the grace and virtually tries to save the Misfit. However, the author provides some hints that indicate that the transition was possible only due to despair.
References
Flint, Thomas P. “On the Significance of Civil War References in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.” Renascence, vol. 70, no. 2, 2018, pp. 119–128.
Ismail, Sezen, and North Macedonia. “Humor and Grotesque in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find.” International Journal of Education & Philology, vol. 1, no. 1, 2020, pp. 35–39.
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. Faber & Faber, 2016.