...This is a character analysis on the Misfit from “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (1953) by Flannery O’Connor. The story is about a family, including the grandmother, Bailey the father, the mother who is unnamed and their two kids named John Wesley and June Star, that is about to take a family vacation. The grandmother wants to go to Tennessee instead of Florida like the rest of the family. To try to convince them she tells them about a newspaper article about an escaped convict named the Misfit that is going towards Florida. Nobody pays her any mind and the next morning they are all in the car and on the road going from Atlanta to Florida. The grandmother convinces Bailey to take the kids to see an old plantation she once visited. As they are going down a winding dirt road to get there, the grandmother is so startled by the realization that the plantation is actually in Tennessee that she bumps the basket containing her cat which jumps out on to Bailey’s shoulder. They have a terrible accident but everyone is alright. Soon after the Misfit and his two lackeys come along. The family initially thinks they are going to help them until the grandmother recognizes the Misfit as the escaped convict. The Misfit talks with the grandmother while his lackeys take first, the son and father to the woods to kill them and then the mother, daughter and the baby. After a comment the grandmother makes, the Misfit shoots her three times in the chest in a boil of emotion which is quite striking from...
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...of them all and in the story shows examples of gluttony and lust, two major sins in the Roman Catholic faith. These sins are the eventual downfall of the entire family. This essay will view the repercussions that occur for lathering in a life of sin and argue that salvation can be disguised in many ways even as malicious at times. It will utilize research directly from the psychoanalytic concept, traumas, and realizations of the few characters who get passed they’re own demons and come to a self-religious realization. Additionally, the essay will pursue the relationships between the grandmother, the misfit, and the son, John Wesley and his Mother and their last minute, virtuous moments right before Gods jurisdiction is handed upon them. John Wesley realizes that his actions anytime before that moment were inexcusable towards his mother, but now it is too late as he is murdered in the woods and the grandmother’s having her salvation just before the Misfit eradicates her as well. Annotated Bibliography Yao, Tianyuan Ben. "A Test of Faith: Analysis on “A Good Man is Hard to Find”." A Journal of Academic Writing (2013): 10. Yao explores, summarizes, and annotates the relationships between the Grandmother and the Roman Catholic Faith. She identifies that the grandmother puts herself and her life before that of anyone else’s which directly contradicts...
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...Literary Analysis Paper Flannery O’Connor is without a doubt one of the most influential renowned writers has earned her to be one of the top Literary Writers of have came out of the South. She is mostly known for her intense and jaw dropping stories on mystery and violence, to show a type of representation of salvation through obscure stories like “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”; which was still till this very day of the best known stories O’Connor has wrote in a long time. The story as a whole represents the ethics the self-righteousness grandmother in the family that had been surprised by this so called spiritual awareness by this unknown murder, which goes by the name of The Misfit, who had posses the action of committing a murderous spree...
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...In Flannery O' Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," a character who calls himself The Misfit murders random, innocent people. When he crosses paths with the protagonist of the story, an overbearing grandmother, he attempts to justify his murders, claiming that there is "no pleasure but meanness" before he murders her as well (O'Connor 1295). At this point, a reader must question why The Misfit finds pleasure in killing and punishing people. The true answer to this question, while contradictory to his previous statements, is that he does not truly find pleasure in killing people; rather, he feels that his murders provide a form of justice and equality in a world that lacks these attributes. The actions of Matt Fowler, the vengeful...
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...Justin Ong Professor Y. Cooper-Grigg English 102 29 May 2013 Death Is a Catalyst For Characters to Change This paper is based on Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, a short story. The theme for this research paper will be an analysis of the key characters in the story that are affected and changed by an encounter with death, with a near-death occurrence. The reason for this theme is to bring some significant insights into the literary work in a profound way. The grandmother and the Misfit are chosen to establish the theme in the paper. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, death is a catalyst for characters to change; some characters are changed positively by their experience with death, while other characters are changed negatively. The Misfit shows why he became evil because his expectation of goodness in the society was put to death by the reality of injustice. In a polite tone, the Misfit explains to the grandmother, “I found out the crime don’t matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car“ (O’Connor 194). This opinion comes from the Misfit serving his lengthy time in jail where he experienced harsh prejudices. The Misfit continues to explain to the grandmother calmly, then came a “piercing scream” from the wood background where the Misfit ordered the grandmother’s family to be killed. Suddenly, Misfit’s tone turned nasty, “Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another ain’t punished at...
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...A Good Man Is Hard To Find literary analysis Tracy Wooten Elizabeth Isenkul February 20, 2016 A good man is hard to find is short story written by Flannery O’ Connor. Throughout the entire story O’Connor utilizes irony as a literary element to create multiple facets of her characters in the story such as those of Bailey's mother and The Misfit. O'Connor establishes the foundation of the irony very early in the story when she gives us the reason for the grandmother getting dressed up for the car ride, “In case of an accident anyone seeing the dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (O’Connor, 1993) . Later on in the story this could considered foreshadowing. Throughout the entire story the grandmother judges people either as good or bad solely based on how they look. For example, the first time the reader sees the phrase "A good man is hard to find," the speaker is Red Sam at the roadside barbecue restaurant where the family is having lunch. Just before that, however, Red Sam has described his willingness to allow some strangers to charge gas, and he asks himself the question, "Now, why did I do that?" (O’Connor, 1993). The grandmother's immediate response is "Because you're a good man." (O’ Connor, 1993). She makes this assessment with very little information about Red Sam, not on the basis of any meaningful knowledge about his character. When the grandmother is first introduced to the misfit, she makes one of those same judgments of him because...
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...addresses this and draws a parallel to the modern moral dilemma of what it takes to be saved. Written in 1953 and based upon her Roman Catholicism roots, O’Connor conveys how each family member gracefully accepts the previous generation’s quirkiness and cynicism to maintain family unit. Although the younger generations do not respect older ones as much as their parents, her stories have characters that convey her message of religious distrust through each character’s deceptive actions and secular thoughts. Similarly, most of O’Connor’s stories make reference to the good and bad by such subtleness as creatively naming the kids after an outlaw and a founder of a major religion. By such obscurity, she wants to draw a parallel between the true believer and the hypocrites that appear to be religious in actions (May). Like a mirror’s reflection, O’Connor’s story contains several undertones of grace in how the characters are developed in the story. From the grandmother to the Misfit, there is a “forewarning of mortal death in the story as the family travels on their last trip before meeting the Misfit that carries out the heinous crime of killing the family” (Pence). Each object and person represents each side of the moral equation. Since each event draws the family and reader closer to the final demise, O’Connor portrays the juxtaposition between the religious fraudulence, personal redemption and Christian salvation. Written in 1953, Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”...
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...Emily Carlson April 18, 2011 Literature 12 Senior Paper on A Good Man Is Hard to Find Week 29 Day 1 Flannery O’Connor was a Catholic writer who was born in 1925, in Savannah, Georgia, and died in 1964. She was well known for her writings about the darker side of humanity. While O’Connor’s stories were often gritty and disturbing to read, they always embodied aspects of grace. O'Connor often depicted salvation through shocking, and violent experiences of her characters. Flannery O’Connor focuses on man’s fallen nature, but at the same time inspires the reader to consider the moments of grace that are offered to everyone. Some individuals recognize and accept this free gift of grace, while others ignore it. Evidence and analysis of the grace offered to the two main characters will be presented in this study of “A Good Man Is Hard to find”, written in 1953. The story is about an unpleasant family who plans a car trip to Florida from their hometown in Georgia. The reader is introduced to the spiteful and manipulative grandmother, her disconnected son, Bailey, his passive wife and baby, and their two older, hard-to-please children, June Star and John Wesley. The grandmother wants to go to Tennessee instead of Florida, so she tells her family about and escaped convict she read about in the news paper to scare them away from going to Florida. Bailey refuses to switch routes and tells her it is nonsense, and the family settles into the car. While on the trip, the children...
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...irony is imbued in this work as it is a principal feature in her lifetime and limited career. She dwelt mostly in Georgia as one of the minor Catholic emphatic. What is amusing is that, she spent most of her lifetime in struggle and met her death immediately it was ripe for her to start enjoying life. At such time it is expected that people should get time in life so that they can enjoy and do whatever they had in mind but they have never got the opportunity or power to do them. It is ironical that, she becomes popular and passes away before she is rewarded for her determination and hard work. The family plans to go to Florida except the grandmother who wants to go to Tennessee. She tries to convince the family by telling them that there is Misfit, the murderer on the way to Florida but they give her deaf ears. At last the grandmother joins the family to Florida with her pet cat. At their first stop, the grandmother talks with the Red on how people are bad. “Good men are hard to find”, the Red said and added that Europe has contributed to the deteriorating behavior of people. As they continue with the journey, the grandmother gets upset because she desires to see a plantation which she...
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...Phase 1 Individual Project Short Stories Prof. Lambert Colorado Technical University Gayla Burow Comparison Contrast Essay of Short Stories This paper is to analysis two short stories “A Good Man is hard to find” and “Love in LA”. Both of these stories have some common similarities, however, seem to be different eras in time. It seems that both were summer when the stories took place, both mention too of course be on a highway at some point in the stories. In both of the stories, there are accidents, one being much harsher than the other, one being a fender bender the other left the family bleeding with broken bones. I felt that most of the characters seemed to be very selfish with only thoughts of themselves. The setting for Love in La is Jake daydreaming about a better car than the one he owns and is why he hits the other character in the stories in the first place. The setting in “A Good Man is Hard” to find, takes place in Georgia mostly told through the grandmother's eyes. It seems she wants to go to Tennessee and her son wanted to go to Florida. She did not get her way even with all the whining about the misfits on the loose. After the cat causes a car crash the family comes across the Misfits, and the grandmother seems to use her faith to save herself and her family from death Characters Jake seems to be a very lazy self-centered nature, he is most defiantly a protagonist in this story. Jake is a dishonest man and does not want to take the blame for the car...
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...Character Analysis “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” The grandmother is the central character in the story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find’, by Flannery O’Connor. The dysfunctional family is planning a trip to Florida, Bailey his wife, the baby, two children (boy and girl) the grandmother and a stowaway cat. Upon reading about the Misfit escaping from Federal Pen and are in Florida the grandmother tried to change their destination. The grandmother is a manipulative, deceitful, and self-serving woman who lives in the past era of the south. She has the same prejudice attitudes of that time. The grandmother’s untruthfulness while on the trip will cause certain doom for the family and her Christian faith would be put to the test. The grandmother tries desperately to change her family's vacation destination as she tries to manipulate her son into going to Tennessee instead of Florida. Her reasons for wanting to go Tennessee were to make connections with some of her peers. The grandmother was also concerned about the children seeing Tennessee since they had already been to Florida. “The children have been to Florida before,” the old lady said. ”You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad. They never have been east to Tennessee”. The children made comments to the grandmother “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay home?” The grandmother asked what you would do if the Misfit caught you. “I’d smack...
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...Lesson Plan for teaching Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Adriana Obiols Roca ‘16 / Swarthmore College Spring 2014 a project completed for Prof. Peter Schmidt’s English 71D, “The Short Story in the U.S.” Swarthmore College, Fall 2014 Objectives: students will… * Understand the differences between direct and indirect characterization and be able to identify examples of each. * Understand the uses of irony and foreshadowing in the story as well as more generally in literature. * Become acquainted with Flannery O’Connor and her writing style, particularly with her use of the grotesque. * Explore the complexity of the themes present in the story and the characters O’Connor has created, especially the Misfit and the grandmother. * Exercise a variety of critical thinking and analytical skills in order to form ideas and opinions about O’Connor’s story and her writing strategies. * Practice reading comprehension and summarization. * Employ and practice writing skills in an essay assignment. Necessary preparation: The teacher should have familiarized him or herself with Flannery O’Connor’s life and work before the lesson by using the links provided below. It is also important that the teacher review definitions of the terms characterization, irony, and foreshadowing (see below). Students are expected to have read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” as well as her essay “Some Aspects of the Grotesque...
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...“A good man is hard to find” by Flannery O'Connor Analysis Flanery o’connor has such a quirky biting sense of humor and that resonates in this story, but even more so though it might not be so apparent this story has a deeper meaning. O’connor presents us with a moral conundrum, is anyone right by the end of this story? If not then where are we left to think as readers? We know from reading about O’connor that she likes presenting human nature in a darker light and showing that people from all walks of life can be flawed this is also present in her story Revelation through her main character. The overall theme of this story is that we have no right to judge people because in the end we are all flawed in our own ways. The story starts off with the grandmother chewing off her son’s ear about taking his family to Florida because there is a murderer supposedly headed in that direction. She says “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that loose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did” (O’connor 367). We as readers know that this is both an example of foreshowing and by the end of our read we know is a large dose of dramatic irony because she in fact take them rite to the murder. It’s also a tad ironic and comical that she suggests that they go to east Tennessee instead or Florida saying it will make the children more abroad. It’s also ironic that the grandmother is the first one in the car ready to leave even though she doesn’t want to...
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...Through the analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s works “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” the distinct similarity of class can be distinguished between the grandmother of the family and Julian’s mother. The two characters share the static notions of how each class is represented in regards to race and propriety through the racist southern traditions which they were raised. In “Good,” the grandmother of the family is viewed as an older woman who clings to racism and traditional southern standards which dictated how a person was to act due to the social class which they belong. The grandmother’s static belief that race and class are joined becomes apparent during the scene when the family passes the Negro child on the side of the road which states, “‘Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!’ she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack. ‘Wouldn’t that make a picture, now?’ she asked and they all turned and looked at the little Negro out of the back window. He Waved. ‘He didn’t have any britches on,’ June Star said. ‘He Probably didn’t have any,’ the grandmother explained. ‘Little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do. If I could paint, I’d paint that picture,’ she said” (O’Connor, “Good” 3) In this scene, the grandmother objectifies the Negro child as if he were a caged animal to watch and then she classifies him as a lower class because he is a Negro and therefore must unable to afford pants. The objectification...
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...Emily Nole Professor Bruce Poteet English 161 4 November 2014 “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” and “Good Country People” Literary Analysis Flannery O’Connor’s works are perfect examples of distortional point of view, and literary irony. Through her work “Good Country People,” O’Connor uses her humor and uses distortional point of view through her characters Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell, and Mrs. Freeman to “humble and expose the biases of the overly intellectual and spiritual bankrupt.” Through her work “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” O’Connor uses her humor and uses distortional point of view to convey and emphasize that we each experience reality, however distorted, through the unique, sometime morally-distorted lens of individual perception, through...
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