What was the grandmother thinking in A Good Man is Hard to Find?
Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find” depicts southern values of the mid-twentieth century that could still be true today. The story was written in 1953 and published in 1955. How does the grandmother demonstrate South Eastern United States in 1953 Georgia? Are those values different now?
O'Connor opens the story by introducing the family. The grandmother is introduced first, and remains nameless. Bailey, the patriarch, is sitting at the table reading the newspaper. His wife, who has no name, but has "a broad face that’s as innocent as a cabbage" (O'Connor), is holding the baby. The two children, John Wesley and June Star, are reading the funny …show more content…
The grandmother recalls a plantation she knew of as a young girl, and tells the family a lie about a secret panel hidden inside the home. This causes the children to start kicking and screaming to find the house convincing Bailey to take an excursion to find the plantation in effort re-establish peace in the car.
The grandmother’s selfishness and arrogance come full circle when she realizes that the plantation was in Tennessee not in Georgia. Due to arrogance and embarrassment about making a mistake, she chooses to not say anything (Georgia). She jumps up in the back as she remembers and kicks over the box that held the cat. The startled Pitty Sing then jumps onto Bailey's shoulder. This causes the car to slide all over the road and ultimately overturning in a ditch.
After the accident, the family takes inventory of themselves. They fear no one will ever come by to help them when a big black "battered hearse-like automobile" (O'Connor 716) appears on the top of the hill. The car pulls up and three men get out with what the family thinks is to help them. One of the men looks familiar to the grandmother and when she realizes who the driver is she shrieks. She scrambles to her feet and stands staring. She blurts out, “You're The Misfit! I recognized you at once" (O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find” depicts southern values of the mid-twentieth century that could still be true today. The story was written in 1953 and published in 1955. How does the grandmother demonstrate South Eastern United States in 1953 Georgia? Are those values different now?
O'Connor opens the story by introducing the family. The grandmother is introduced first, and remains nameless. Bailey, the patriarch, is sitting at the table reading the newspaper. His wife, who has no name, but has "a broad face that’s as innocent as a cabbage" (O'Connor), is holding the baby. The two children, John Wesley and June Star, are reading the funny …show more content…
The grandmother recalls a plantation she knew of as a young girl, and tells the family a lie about a secret panel hidden inside the home. This causes the children to start kicking and screaming to find the house convincing Bailey to take an excursion to find the plantation in effort re-establish peace in the car.
The grandmother’s selfishness and arrogance come full circle when she realizes that the plantation was in Tennessee not in Georgia. Due to arrogance and embarrassment about making a mistake, she chooses to not say anything (Georgia). She jumps up in the back as she remembers and kicks over the box that held the cat. The startled Pitty Sing then jumps onto Bailey's shoulder. This causes the car to slide all over the road and ultimately overturning in a ditch.
After the accident, the family takes inventory of themselves. They fear no one will ever come by to help them when a big black "battered hearse-like automobile" (O'Connor 716) appears on the top of the hill. The car pulls up and three men get out with what the family thinks is to help them. One of the men looks familiar to the grandmother and when she realizes who the driver is she shrieks. She scrambles to her feet and stands staring. She blurts out, “You're The Misfit! I recognized you at once" (O'Connor