The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” begins with an average southern family planning out a vacation that they believe will be wonderful. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” starts off with a humorous tone since the reader does not know the outcome of the story. O’Connor’s use of tone changes from humorous to quite frightening, which plays a key role in making this short story a compelling one. Flannery’s creative and strange take on narrating the story forces the reader to believe that she does not take violence seriously, as she portrays violence as being normal in Southern culture. In today’s world people believe that violence sends off a negative vibe; however, O’Connor portrays this vibe differently by displaying the grandmother’s positive
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As Spivey says in his book about Flannery O’Connor, many people find it odd that “several of her stories show little consequence” (15). What the author is trying to say is that O’Connor does not show heavy consequence for violence acts, which the readers of her stories then interpret that she feels violence to be normal. O’Connor makes this peculiar gesture about violence being okay because she thinks that the south is a weird place. When describing the misfit as having “a long creased face and without a shirt,” the reader sees this as being an odd way of describing a criminal (O’Connor 412). O’Connor portrays this criminal to be someone who is a good man, which is odd to her readers. O’Connor’s use of imagery when describing the misfit only leads the reader into believing that the south is strange because she wants her readers to see her perspective on the south. Spivey suggests that “O’Connor’s stories often seek to blow up the paralyzed world they find themselves trapped within,” which we see in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” when O’Connor forces her readers to not only understand what they want to about violence, but understand that in the south violence is portrayed as being a joke and that violence is not a big deal (112). It is important to O’Connor that her readers understand that the south is a weird place because she feels her readers need to be …show more content…
As a reader, when reading a story about violence a reader expects to read in detail about the violence. However, in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the violence is suttle and is described in little detail. When O’Connor describes the violence the reader receives little information on what is going on. The reader is informed “there was a pistol shot in the woods,” which gives the reader no clear image on the violence. This suggests that O’Connor wants her readers to be aware that violence is a joke in the south. She leaves her readers with little or no image on the violence because she wants her readers to feel the same way about the south as she does. O’Connor feels that the south is a weird place so she manipulates her readers and changes there expectations of violence in the south, in order to force them to see violence in the south from her perspective. Also, O’Connor plays with her reader’s expectations on what characters he or she may like after reading the story. O’Connor leads her reader into receiving more comfort from the misfit than the grandmother at the end of the story. Throughout the story we see that the grandmother feels “her time was the best time,” which forces the reader to feel she will put herself before her family (Mays 407). This makes the reader feel resentment towards
As Spivey says in his book about Flannery O’Connor, many people find it odd that “several of her stories show little consequence” (15). What the author is trying to say is that O’Connor does not show heavy consequence for violence acts, which the readers of her stories then interpret that she feels violence to be normal. O’Connor makes this peculiar gesture about violence being okay because she thinks that the south is a weird place. When describing the misfit as having “a long creased face and without a shirt,” the reader sees this as being an odd way of describing a criminal (O’Connor 412). O’Connor portrays this criminal to be someone who is a good man, which is odd to her readers. O’Connor’s use of imagery when describing the misfit only leads the reader into believing that the south is strange because she wants her readers to see her perspective on the south. Spivey suggests that “O’Connor’s stories often seek to blow up the paralyzed world they find themselves trapped within,” which we see in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” when O’Connor forces her readers to not only understand what they want to about violence, but understand that in the south violence is portrayed as being a joke and that violence is not a big deal (112). It is important to O’Connor that her readers understand that the south is a weird place because she feels her readers need to be …show more content…
As a reader, when reading a story about violence a reader expects to read in detail about the violence. However, in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the violence is suttle and is described in little detail. When O’Connor describes the violence the reader receives little information on what is going on. The reader is informed “there was a pistol shot in the woods,” which gives the reader no clear image on the violence. This suggests that O’Connor wants her readers to be aware that violence is a joke in the south. She leaves her readers with little or no image on the violence because she wants her readers to feel the same way about the south as she does. O’Connor feels that the south is a weird place so she manipulates her readers and changes there expectations of violence in the south, in order to force them to see violence in the south from her perspective. Also, O’Connor plays with her reader’s expectations on what characters he or she may like after reading the story. O’Connor leads her reader into receiving more comfort from the misfit than the grandmother at the end of the story. Throughout the story we see that the grandmother feels “her time was the best time,” which forces the reader to feel she will put herself before her family (Mays 407). This makes the reader feel resentment towards