The story ” A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’connor explores violence, goodness, sin and redemption. The author shows suspense in the essay which gives an overview of the story, but it has interior feelings. My interior feelings about this story are empathy, darkness and self observation. The main characters are the grandmother and the family which are identify as the “good” ones and the misfit as the evil character. However, throughout the story, the readers can experience racism, lies, disrespect and manipulation from the grandmother and the family. The character’s reaction to the violence, as well as the Misfit’s calm detachment from his actions, give a dark sense to the reader.
At the end of the story, it evoke a sense of existential realization and empathy; the grandmother’s final recognition of the Misfit as “one of her own children” carries a change of tone in the story, which lead to the moment of empathy between the grandmother and the Misfit. The realization that the boundaries between good and evil are not clear at all, and it gives a tone of self observation.
