A Good Man Is Hard To Find Character Analysis

Superior Essays
A major theme of Flannery O 'Connor 's “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is what makes a person good. There is no clear answer, neither in the text nor in life. It is safe to say that a good person can be defined as one that is honest, kind, and always tries to do what is right. It is ironic then, maybe even a bit hypocritical, that the Grandmother is one of the most immoral characters in the story and yet she spends much of her time talking about what makes people good, judging others based on little to no information about them, and trying to convince the Misfit, a serial killer that just murdered her family, of his own goodness. The Grandmother is not a good person, by any standards. The story opens with her trying to emotionally manipulate …show more content…
The Grandmother knows that Bailey will refuse to go to the plantation so she then decides to lie about the secret panel to get the children 's attention (Bloom). This works and she sits back and watches as the children scream and cause such a commotion that Bailey has to agree to go to the plantation just to get the children to calm down. The Grandmother is pleased with herself until she realizes that the plantation is in Tennessee but when she does, she does not tell the family that they can turn around. She lets them keep driving on the dangerous road because she 's too embarrassed to admit her …show more content…
This shows that it is intentional that O 'Connor wrote the Grandmother to not be a good person. By having another character state that the Grandmother was not good, the point of the story is reinforced. This is not a story that is meant to scare the reader with the shocking violence, nor is it meant to make the reader laugh with it 's comedic scenes. This is a story of an awful woman that is so caught up in judging others and believing that she should be the one deciding if a person is good or not that she is unable to see the wrongness in herself. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” sends the message that one should not be so quick to judge others, especially when one is not a very good person

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor enters the debate by using irony to illustrate what constitutes a “good person”. Throughout the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the grandmother sees herself as a “good person”. The grandmother is characterized as “good” by saying things like “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn’t…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find’ is judgmental throughout the story. She has her own distorted view of what good is. Her morals and the way she defines good and bad were shaped from her past and will negatively impact her whole family’s future. It is difficult to refrain from being judgmental at times. Being opinionated and having beliefs is perfectly acceptable.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, Flannery O’Connor introduces the reader to a world of family issues, danger, and murder. The story was written in 1955 during a period of social and racial unrest in the southern United States. Mostly, the story follows O 'Connor 's basic Southern Gothic writing style, a work that is "cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent" (Galloway). While the quote gives major insight into the tone of the story, it does not offer a glimpse into O 'Connor 's real message of the story. Her take on the characters is a complex mixture of agreement and disapproval.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Instead of staying on the highway she begs her son Bailey to turn off the road so she can see the old plantation she visited when she was a girl. She is determined to see the old plantation that she will do everything in her power to change Bailey’s mind, including lying: “There was a secret panel in this house,” she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, “and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found…” The Grandmother has lied to get her way as well as clearly defying her son’s request not to bring the cat. The Grandmother does not have bad intentions, she is a good person. However, her actions make her seem that she is a bad person because she does not seem to care about anybody else’s feelings except her own.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Character Analysis of the Old Lady in Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Men are hard to Find.” William Miles South University Online Composition III/Literature | ENG1300 S03 Week 4 Assignment 2 Faculty: Charles Cannon 10/4/2016 In the short story, “A Good Man is hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the main character is simple named the old lady.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a story of hypocrisy and irony. O’Connor’s tale of twisted morals and fleeting grasps at old standards takes a family from an innocent trip to Florida to an impending doom laid out before them by the narrator in the first paragraph. The fill of the story is one based on a grandmother’s traditional ways and the conflicting norms of their modern day society. A dying woman’s last attempt at life initially seems valiant, but the 1955 tale brings to light the error in her entire belief system and the proper foundation The Misfit has built his steadfastly on (SparkNotes). The tale brings to light a remorseless view of the world from two different eyes, a hypocritical grandmother and a…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These expressions show how The Misfit was possibly once considered an unequivocally good person, and again reinstates O'Connor's theme of how the lines between good and evil are so easily blurred. For that in every good person, lie malicious tendencies. The foundation of good and evil is one that is recognizable across all humanity, though Flannery O'Connor easily shows her readers how that very basis not easily defined. With the two main characters of "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor uses efficient characterization to display her theme of how good and evil can be actively…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grandmother Vs Misfit

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner seems like a basic story. It is the story of a incoherent family that takes a trip and by chance they end up at the hands of a killer. When this story is looked at more closely it really holds some important themes. The two main characters, the grandmother and the Misfit, have a conversation that reveals more than what is on the surface. The innocent grandmother and the killer Misfit although seeming the complete opposites of good and evil are more alike than different when really examined.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tragedy When reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor most recreational readers believe the short story to be gothic and even twisted. However, when the story is read from the of O’Connor’s view point it takes on a different tone and meaning all together. Much of what at first glance seems to be terrible and horrific events are actually lessons which O’Connor hoped to bring to the reader. O’Connor uses several key characters and settings in the story to express her beliefs to the reader.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Shirley Jackson. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, It’s a short story that in the story the grandma convinces herself and her family that she is good . I'm going to explain two traits that stuck out to me the most in this story. Good vs evil is between the grandmother and the Misfit who is a convicted killer and the grandmother who has a sense of goodness and a criminal who embodies real evil.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, the grandmother is a lady who believes that she is morally superior to others. The grandmother believes that she is a good Christian lady and that there are not that many good people around anymore. She is closed minded, selfish, and not very self-observant. Whenever there is an opportunity to criticize someone or something the grandmother takes it. She has her own definition of good, a way of how things should be done, and expects the world to meet her expectations.…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hard To Find Grandmother

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    She is also very immature. Even though the family has decided on going to Florida still and rather her opinions do not matter at all to the family. The grandmother is still very determined to get what. On the road they pass an old house the grandmother recalls it as a old plantation she visited when she was a young lady. She knew that Bailey would not be willing to lose any time looking at an old house (143).…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Characters of A Good Man is Hard to Find “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a famous example of short stories in American literature. The story was written by Flannery O’Connor in 1955. Flannery O’Connor was actually born Mary Flannery O’Connor in 1925. She was considered an important person in American literature, with credits for writing two novels, over 30 short stories and various reviews and commentaries on other written works. O’Connor was raised in the Bible belt and the influence of the area shows within her works.…

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flannery O’Connor is considered one of America’s best fictional writers not one that ,but she is also know a strong advocate for Roman Catholicism. O’Connor is primarily known for her her fictional stories, that being said the characteristic that she makes evident among all the characters in her short stories is what makes her writing extremely interesting. In “ A Good Man is Hard to Find” the grandmother is quite the character., and most people can relate to the character due to the fact that they too have a family member or loved one that resembles some of the same traits as the grandmother. She is illustrated as a stubborn, ignorant, and talkative old lady. All these traits contributed in their own way to the final result of the short story which is death.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” argues that negative aspects of human behaviour can influence an individual’s perception and cloud the true meaning of a “good man” (O’Connor 94). Initially, the grandmother appears to be “lady” (O’Connor 92) with moral principles. However, a closer analysis of the story’s characterization and diction suggests the grandmother is not actually as she may appear. Displays of selfishness, moral superiority and racism contradict the behaviour of a “lady” (O’Connor 92) and prevent the grandmother from being recognized with this title. O’Connor’s literary techniques such as irony, imagery and foreshadowing lead to the development of the grandmother’s character and suggest there is “no pleasure…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays