Irony is a reoccurring literary device in "A Good Man is Hard to Find", in the beginning of the short story the text states, "She didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days... she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself." (page 1) Ironically the grandmother brought the cat along with them against her son's wishes in fear that it would kill itself, yet the cat set off the series of events that led to the demise of the entire family and is the lone survivor. Before the family leaves Atlanta, the grandmother warns her son and daughter-in law against travelling to Florida, citing the Misfit as a danger; the adults disregard her concerns and in the end the Misfit
…show more content…
The grandmother's hat symbolizes her façade of innocence and purity. The author describes the hat as, "a navy-blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim." (page 2) White violets symbolize innocence; throughout the story the grandmother composes an appearance of purity and innocence which completely disintegrates at the end of the story when she further unveils her horrible nature by selfishly begging for her own life. The breakdown of her innocent façade is shown through the state of the hat when O'Connor writes, "as the grandmother limped out of the car, her hat still pinned to her head but the broken brim standing up at a jaunty angle and the violet spray hanging off the side." (page 9) The altogether collapse of the grandmother's act of innocence is indicated when the brim of the hat breaks off and drops to the ground. Additionally, while on the road the grandmother points out an old plantation, with five or six graves in a large cotton field. This symbolizes the graves and death of the six family members. At one point in the journey O'Connor writes, "All at once they would be on a hill, looking down over the blue tops of trees for miles around, then the next minute, they would be in a red depression with the dust-coated trees looking down on
The grandmother's hat symbolizes her façade of innocence and purity. The author describes the hat as, "a navy-blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim." (page 2) White violets symbolize innocence; throughout the story the grandmother composes an appearance of purity and innocence which completely disintegrates at the end of the story when she further unveils her horrible nature by selfishly begging for her own life. The breakdown of her innocent façade is shown through the state of the hat when O'Connor writes, "as the grandmother limped out of the car, her hat still pinned to her head but the broken brim standing up at a jaunty angle and the violet spray hanging off the side." (page 9) The altogether collapse of the grandmother's act of innocence is indicated when the brim of the hat breaks off and drops to the ground. Additionally, while on the road the grandmother points out an old plantation, with five or six graves in a large cotton field. This symbolizes the graves and death of the six family members. At one point in the journey O'Connor writes, "All at once they would be on a hill, looking down over the blue tops of trees for miles around, then the next minute, they would be in a red depression with the dust-coated trees looking down on