The short story “A Good Man is hard to Find” describes a grandmother stuck in the past. She believes the world is in ruins, wishing she could go back and relive in the time she that was to her satisfaction. Southern gothic literature often focuses on the grotesque aspects of society at the time. The grandmother criticizes the grandchildren’s rude behavior, the misfit’s gruesome acts and the fact that no one enjoys the same things she does. The point she is trying to make is that contemporary society is horrifying and the past was a utopia. The short story demonstrates the ruin characteristics of gothic literature as well the pattern of the one holding onto the past and eventually passing away at the end The author of the story immediately
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This shows how the grandma sees today’s society in ruins in terms of respecting others. The grandmother also repeats how hard it is to find a good man in today’s society. Now, the grandmother …show more content…
For example, the grandma in the beginning of the story constantly wishes the family would go to Tennessee instead. She has a connection to the state but does not admit it and instead uses threats to her son to convince him. She says "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is a loose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did” (O’Connor 137). Once again the grandmother is complaining about the present and using excuses to go back to the past that only she knows. In the story “A Rose for Emily” the subject of the story, the woman Emily passes away as the last remnant or wall holding the rest of the town from moving on from the past and realizing their world is not in ruins. The grandmother plays a similar role in this story and like Emily she passes away as well. It is important to note that those who say the world is in ruins in southern gothic literature are usually the only characters that say so. The grandmother’s son, daughter in law and grandkids, see nothing wrong with the world and live their lives freely and only complain about why another person is complaining. Perhaps the death of those who hold others
This shows how the grandma sees today’s society in ruins in terms of respecting others. The grandmother also repeats how hard it is to find a good man in today’s society. Now, the grandmother …show more content…
For example, the grandma in the beginning of the story constantly wishes the family would go to Tennessee instead. She has a connection to the state but does not admit it and instead uses threats to her son to convince him. She says "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is a loose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did” (O’Connor 137). Once again the grandmother is complaining about the present and using excuses to go back to the past that only she knows. In the story “A Rose for Emily” the subject of the story, the woman Emily passes away as the last remnant or wall holding the rest of the town from moving on from the past and realizing their world is not in ruins. The grandmother plays a similar role in this story and like Emily she passes away as well. It is important to note that those who say the world is in ruins in southern gothic literature are usually the only characters that say so. The grandmother’s son, daughter in law and grandkids, see nothing wrong with the world and live their lives freely and only complain about why another person is complaining. Perhaps the death of those who hold others