A Good Man Hard To Find Theme Analysis

Innocence and ignorance play significant roles in the short story “A Good Man Hard to Find” and can be seen as the linchpin of the story 's theme. In “A Good Man Hard to Find” a dysfunctional family of six; June Star, John Wesley, their father Bailey, his mother, and his wife and newborn have taken time for a family trip of some kind. During the trip the Grandmother manipulates the kids by telling them about an old plantation she once frequent that was supposedly nearby. After a short ride on a dirt road a dramatic accident follows, as the car veers off the road and flips over leading to a series of unfortunate events ultimately leading to a known criminal called “The Misfit” and their untimely deaths. Thought “A Good Man Hard to Find” innocence and ignorance are used to blur the lines of who is good and bad or right and wrong. For example June Star and John Wesley, kids no more than ten or so, are shown to have a child 's innocence by being harmless and naiveté knowing little of what is to happen to them when they’re taken into the woods to die. Yet June Star and John Wesley show immense ignorance such as June Star rudely spewing the ugly retort, "I wouldn 't live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks!" to Red Sammy 's wife after she is given a compliment. This ignorance is also shown when both June Star and John Wesley …show more content…
It can be used to create in depth and interesting characters that blur the line between good and bad. It does this by shows how innocence and ignorance keep one from the truth about oneself or the world turning people into complacent and unquestioning sheep with simple lives with little worry, or complex beast of intrigued that question the very system they live in. “A Good Man Hard to Find” shows what happens when innocence and ignorance is lost and how it doesn 't always lead to sin and violence but can be the birth of