Flannery O'Connor

The Humbling of Prideful Women It has been said that God will humble those who refuse to humble themselves. This certainly seems to be the case for the protagonists in the short Stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. “The Necklace” tells the story of Mathilde, a French woman whose pride drives her insatiable materialistic nature and transforms her into her own antagonist through a journey of self-destruction. “A Good Man is Hard to…

Short Story Analysis of A Goodman is Hard to Find Flannery O'Connor uses conflict in A Goodman is Hard to Find to demonstrate the tendency of people to change beliefs when faced with adversity through the actions of the grandmother. Originally, the grandmother believed herself to be a good woman with strong beliefs but as the story progressed, her ideals shifted. O'Connor portrayed this mainly at the end of the story when the family encountered the Misfit. The Misfit, a recently escaped prisoner…

What is Good or Bad? All of our lives we question what determines what is good or bad. There is a fine line between the two and people would always like to assume that they are good. In the short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" Flannery O'Connor demonstrates the subtle meaning of good. The grandma appears to regard goodness for the most part as a component of being fair, having great conduct, and originating from a group of the right individuals. The topic of this story shows the…

aftermath of slavery and the fall of the genteel South, this “mask” often appears in American Literature. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is a poem showing the raw pain that was felt in the 1890s, particularly within African American community. Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” is a short story about people who use the idea of the mask to hide their flawed personalities from a judgmental society. Although these two works are from very different times and have different reasons…

In the short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, the reader is introduced to the complex characters of the Grandmother and Misfit as each journey across the dirt roads of Georgia until their lives intersect. At this intersection, O’Connor beautifully portrays the trouble that society has with determining what is good and what is bad. It is here that O’Connor is able to use the literary device of Characterization between the characters of the Misfit and Grandmother to further…

Good: Is the Perception Distorted? In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Flannery O'Connor depicts a seemingly normal road trip of a mother, father, grandmother, and three children. The family begins their trip by going through their home state of Georgia to end in Tennessee. They begin to visit a mansion when the car flips causing the family to become injured. A stranger arrives who seems friendly at first then slowly kills every member of the family off one by one. O’Connor's characters, mainly…

The concept of being a “good” person has painted the picture of how people have handled their lives throughout history. On the same note, this concept has also been the subject of much debate; such is the case in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The protagonist, the unnamed grandmother struggles to find the “good” in others and herself. O’Conner uses foreshadowing, characterization, and a distinct point of view to make her point. In my interpretation, her point is that only…

Flannery O’Connor, the prolific American writer, has covered quite a bit of ground in her body of work. She focuses on the South, exploring its cultural norms and social dynamics. But all her forays into life in the Post-Bellum South center around one thing: God. O’Connor works Christian values (or the lack thereof) into nearly all of her stories, especially the ones we have read in class. The author is committed to a very particular strain of Catholicism, and seems to dole out punishment to…

Patrick Rothfuss, explains why the words and language in Wise Blood are so important. In this novel by Flannery O’Connor, a man finds himself caught in a war of faith, destiny, and false prophets. It is set in the imaginary southern town of Taulkinham, Tennessee in the 1950s. The book accurately represents the way southerners lived at the time and how their environments affected their speech. O’Connor drew on her own upbringing in Savannah, Georgia to create dynamic characters, such as Hazel…

Did she have a Revelation? In the short story “Revelation” written by Flannery O’Connor, Mrs. Turpin is a very judgmental woman who is at the doctor’s office with her husband, Claud. While they are in the waiting room waiting to be called back, Mrs. Turpin strikes up a conversation with other people who are in the waiting room and judges everyone in the room silently in her head. The main lady whom Turpin is speaking to is there with her daughter who is in college and suffering from seizures.…