How The Father Bailey In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Submissive is defined as; “inclined or ready to submit or yield to the authority of another.” (Dictionary.com) This word could be used to describe the father Bailey in the short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. Some could argue that the lack of dominance Bailey displayed eventually led up to the murdering of his entire family. A few examples that help display Bailey’s lack of dominance are: how he lets his mother walk all over him, how his children are defiant and disrespectful, and how Bailey didn’t try to fight for his family after it was known what the intentions of the Misfit were. From the beginning of the story, Bailey’s mother definitely has the dominance in the household. Bailey, instead of having the traditional authoritative father figure has the more passive role as you would expect a child to have, or someone with less influence. The grandmother showing her control over her son, convinced Bailey to drive to the “old plantation that she had visited when she was a young lady” (7). Throughout the story, Bailey continues to deal with the rude comments of his mother ranging from what his wife was wearing to how his children were acting. When the family had just begun their trip the mother was wearing casual clothes due to the three children she had to take care of. This was not considered appropriate by the grandmother because a lady shouldn’t be dressed to be allowing themselves to pass for a …show more content…
There are several examples of how this behavior is shown. As a result of this demeanor from Bailey; he doesn’t stand up to his mother about her rude comments, his children have little to no manners, and he does not try to stand up and take action when his family is being held hostage by the Misfit. The submissive behavior shown by the father can be used as the leading reason as to why his family was in the predicament they were in the first