Flannery O’Connor created a significant piece of writing that might be considered as one of her most famous works. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a short story that aims to address the never-ending issue of redemption – what it takes to become a good person. O’Connor might have tried to depict the moment of divine salvation through the dire situation in which her characters are put. In this paper, the analysis of the above story, with an accent on its primary theme, will be provided.
The plot shows us a family that consists of a grandmother, Bailey (father), his wife, John Wesley and June Star (children), and the newborn baby. Bailey aims to take his family to Florida to spend his free time there. However, the grandmother is against and inclines Bailey to go to Tennessee – where her friends live. During the trip, due to the family’s cat jumped on the father’s shoulder, the car accident takes place, but everyone stays alive, and only the mother gets an injury.
The grandmother stops a black hearse and recognized in the man who gets out of it The Misfit – a murderer from the news. She immediately expresses the latter, and The Misfit decides to kill the whole family. While her relatives are being murdered, the grandmother speaks to The Misfit and tries to convince him not to kill her. However, the criminal remains adamant and finishes his bloody and violent intention with the help of prisoners that escaped with him.
It might be assumed that the author addresses the central issue of the story through the grandmother’s character and her interaction with The Misfit. At the beginning of the plot, she is arrogant and loyal to the “better times” of her youth and compares it with the present – when “a good man is hard to find” (O’Connor). The grandmother is disrespectful to modern views and people and believes that she is a lady above the rest. She annoys the family throughout the whole trip and pursues her own purposes at first. Nevertheless, during her discussion with The Misfit in the face of death, the grandmother changes and starts caring about the murderer’s soul, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (O’Connor). She gently touches his shoulder, but The Misfit jumps off and shoots her.
O’Connor might aim to show that the divine salvation of a human’s soul is only possible with the help of pain and suffering. She is consciously revealing the sinful nature of the grandmother during the narrative to finally present her positive change caused by a morbid experience. O’Connor gives The Misfit the following line not accidentally, “she would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” Here, she emphasizes the fact that the grandmother needed a stimulus – the moment of salvation – that would lead her to a delightful transformation.
In conclusion, it seems reasonable to claim that O’Connor wrote a notable short story that makes a reader think about the essence of sin, kindness, and soul in an exciting manner. The development of the grandmother’s character might be the crucial element of the narrative as the author illustrates the divine change within this personality. O’Connor’s primary goal might be to make an accent on the vicious nature of people and light a way to salvation.
Work Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” UFSC, 1953. Web.