When reading a poorly written story it may become difficult to create a vivid picture of setting. However, the best stories do a good job showing the reader the era of the story allowing the reader to fill in more detail based on prior knowledge. In Flannery O’Connor’s, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” she helps her audience deeply understand the setting in which the story takes place. O’Connor’s use of southern slang, vivid descriptions and allusions transports readers into the era when the story takes place. Throughout the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the author gives the characters a southern slang vocabulary to give the reader a better understanding of setting. An example of this is when the family sees an African American boy on
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“He probably didn’t have any,” the grandmother explained, “Little Niggers in the country don’t have things like we do…” she said (O’Connor 406).
The author wants the reader to understand that this story takes place in the southern United States. The characters use of the word britches shows they are from down south, because northerns rarely use the word britches unless they are mocking a southern accent. The grandmother also refers to the boy as a “Nigger” and speaks about him condescendingly. Her poor grammar and direct racist comment reinforces that she is of the south. O’Connor establishes this southern setting by showing us simply how the people in the story speak with a unique vocabulary and poor grammar.
Another way O’Connor establishes the setting of this story is by using vivid descriptions. For instance when the grandmother describes what she sees out of the car window:
Stone Mountain; the blue granite that in some places came up both sides of the highway; the brilliant red clay banks streaked slightly with purple; and the various crops that made rows of green lace work on the ground. …show more content…
In a conversation with a restaurant owner, the grandmother brings up Europe and better times. “The old lady said that Europe was to blame for the way things are now… the way Europe acted you would think we were made of money,” (408). In this statement, the old lady is talking about how things were in the United States post World War two. She mentions Europe causing this massive change, which makes sense because of where the War started. Also her statement about the U.S being “made of money” is referencing all the help, financially, our allies wanted before we finally entered the war after Pearl Harbor. O’Connor subtly alludes to these events showing that the story took place anywhere from the late forties, to the early fifties when the story was
“He probably didn’t have any,” the grandmother explained, “Little Niggers in the country don’t have things like we do…” she said (O’Connor 406).
The author wants the reader to understand that this story takes place in the southern United States. The characters use of the word britches shows they are from down south, because northerns rarely use the word britches unless they are mocking a southern accent. The grandmother also refers to the boy as a “Nigger” and speaks about him condescendingly. Her poor grammar and direct racist comment reinforces that she is of the south. O’Connor establishes this southern setting by showing us simply how the people in the story speak with a unique vocabulary and poor grammar.
Another way O’Connor establishes the setting of this story is by using vivid descriptions. For instance when the grandmother describes what she sees out of the car window:
Stone Mountain; the blue granite that in some places came up both sides of the highway; the brilliant red clay banks streaked slightly with purple; and the various crops that made rows of green lace work on the ground. …show more content…
In a conversation with a restaurant owner, the grandmother brings up Europe and better times. “The old lady said that Europe was to blame for the way things are now… the way Europe acted you would think we were made of money,” (408). In this statement, the old lady is talking about how things were in the United States post World War two. She mentions Europe causing this massive change, which makes sense because of where the War started. Also her statement about the U.S being “made of money” is referencing all the help, financially, our allies wanted before we finally entered the war after Pearl Harbor. O’Connor subtly alludes to these events showing that the story took place anywhere from the late forties, to the early fifties when the story was