Essay On A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

How does one see the good or bad in a human being? In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the line between these two concepts becomes a blurry combination that lacks true distinction from one over the other. The word good is thrown around all the time, causing its meaning to lessen as the story goes on. By the end of the story, the reader discovers that there is good and bad in everyone. Not one person is one hundred percent bad and neither is one person one hundred percent good. O’Connor shows the differences in the good and bad in everyone through contrasting characters, highlighting their behavior, and enlightening the idea of people not knowing their true character until they are faced with the most frightening experiences …show more content…
She thinks that she is such a sweet and proper lady who is always right and can do no wrong. On the car ride, she even wears specific clothing so that people would recognize her as a lady if they were to be in a crash, all to keep her good image. However, as one reads the story, they discover “that it is virtually impossible to say anything unquestionably good about her. One cannot even fall back on the excuse that she means well, since most of what she means is to please herself by devious means.” Her entire family is sick of her due to all her nagging and they do not really want anything to do with her. By the grandmother trying to get her way all the time, she is the one that leads them down the gravel road, causes the accident, which then causes the confrontation with the Misfit. She also is the one that caused the death of her family by pronouncing to everyone at the accident, “You’re the Misfit!” After she says that, the Misfit creepily replies, “it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn’t of reckernized me.” The grandmother thinks that she is such a good lady but her actions tell a different story and she finally realizes her bad character right before her death while conversing with the …show more content…
There is not one completely good person, nor is there one completely bad person. Some people think that they are the best people in the world, but they are in fact bad people. On the other hand, some people only think that they are the worst people in the world, but they do have some good in them. By O’Connor contrasting the characters of the Misfit and the grandmother, she forces one to grasp this sometimes tricky concept and also makes one understand that someone’s true character might not be exposed until they are faced with a life and death