Flannery O’Connor is an author renown for her southern gothic works. She writes about violent and troubling things while exploring Roman Catholic themes. One work of hers that has garnered varying opinion of is A Good Man is Hard to Find, which is horrifying in its climax. While subtle, O’Connor creates a feeling of approaching doom that reaches its pinnacle towards the end of her work. Flannery O’Connor uses foreshadowing in A Good Man is Hard to Find to create a sense of foreboding.
O’Connor introduces foreshadowing from the very beginning of the short story. Amid introducing all of the main characters, she mentions the threat of The Misfit in the form of the grandmother’s schemes to avoid visiting Florida. The grandmother insists that her …show more content…
Red Sammy and the grandmother discuss him for a while, when Red Sammy’s wife says something that is disconcerting. She says that she “wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attack this place right here” (O’Connor 408). With this statement, it makes this action a possibility, and places the fear in the minds of the characters and reader. Though it was stated earlier that The Misfit was in Florida, this declaration abruptly makes it feasible for him to be right outside the diner. This makes the threat of him more material.
Red Sammy’s restaurant serves another purpose. It seems inescapable, with numerous signs up and down the highway (O’Connor 407). No matter how long the family drives, Red Sammy is always there, and his restaurant is always waiting. It is also the first ‘dark’ place the family comes across since the beginning of the trip. It resembles Hell, as a “long dark room” with red and black paint (O’Connor 407). It is meant to be a place of laughter, but dark topics are spoken of and it provokes an unnerving feeling. To the reader, it has the weight of a last …show more content…
The three men, who are revealed to be The Misfit and his partners-in-crime, divy up the family. One by one, the lackeys escort the family members into the woods as The Misfit asks them to “[step] back in them woods there with them” (O’Connor 413). The partition of the family coupled with The Misfit’s presence and the gun carrying men creates a tense and uneasy environment. The purpose of the divy is not known, which adds to the anticipation. O’Connor creates a restless pressure as the many variables all come together in a cataclysmic scene.
Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find is a work in prefiguration. Through a multitude of symbols and imagery, O’Connor hints consistently at some great calamity approaching the family.While the many presages do lead the reader to suspect the end events of the short story, it does not dull the violent and troubling aspect of it. Rather, the fate of the family is all the more tragic for the forewarning the reader receives and is helpless to dismiss. The many omens herald the end of the family’s life and inundate the reader in the inevitability of
O’Connor introduces foreshadowing from the very beginning of the short story. Amid introducing all of the main characters, she mentions the threat of The Misfit in the form of the grandmother’s schemes to avoid visiting Florida. The grandmother insists that her …show more content…
Red Sammy and the grandmother discuss him for a while, when Red Sammy’s wife says something that is disconcerting. She says that she “wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attack this place right here” (O’Connor 408). With this statement, it makes this action a possibility, and places the fear in the minds of the characters and reader. Though it was stated earlier that The Misfit was in Florida, this declaration abruptly makes it feasible for him to be right outside the diner. This makes the threat of him more material.
Red Sammy’s restaurant serves another purpose. It seems inescapable, with numerous signs up and down the highway (O’Connor 407). No matter how long the family drives, Red Sammy is always there, and his restaurant is always waiting. It is also the first ‘dark’ place the family comes across since the beginning of the trip. It resembles Hell, as a “long dark room” with red and black paint (O’Connor 407). It is meant to be a place of laughter, but dark topics are spoken of and it provokes an unnerving feeling. To the reader, it has the weight of a last …show more content…
The three men, who are revealed to be The Misfit and his partners-in-crime, divy up the family. One by one, the lackeys escort the family members into the woods as The Misfit asks them to “[step] back in them woods there with them” (O’Connor 413). The partition of the family coupled with The Misfit’s presence and the gun carrying men creates a tense and uneasy environment. The purpose of the divy is not known, which adds to the anticipation. O’Connor creates a restless pressure as the many variables all come together in a cataclysmic scene.
Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find is a work in prefiguration. Through a multitude of symbols and imagery, O’Connor hints consistently at some great calamity approaching the family.While the many presages do lead the reader to suspect the end events of the short story, it does not dull the violent and troubling aspect of it. Rather, the fate of the family is all the more tragic for the forewarning the reader receives and is helpless to dismiss. The many omens herald the end of the family’s life and inundate the reader in the inevitability of