These are the specific ideas I made a connection with In a Good Man is Hard to find that came about from my reading Flannery O’ Conner’s On Her own work, The Element of Suspense:
She used suspense to highlight the hypocrisy and self deception that was shown by the grand mother. The way she manipulated her son and his family into doing what she wanted so much so that I was uncertain of what the outcome would be. Another complex idea is the character flaw in the grandmother of being so self righteous, she dressed to appear as a lady but that was just a facade. Inside she was prejudiced and dishonest.
I was taken even further into suspense when deep question surrounding the humanity of “The Misfit” when they arrived on the scene of the accident. The talk of religion , he had a memory lapse where he could not remember what led to his incarceration. In fact his conversation with the grandmother appeared to be grappling with the nature of justice and punishment.
The climax of this story is true to O’ Conner style where she engages her readers in a climax where an action can be expected or unexpected. The violence and grotesque ending brought to light the harsh realities of the human nature.
One thought on “Bernadette Kowlessar A Good man is Hard to find.”
Bernadette, while these things may be true about the story, this week’s prompt asks students to refer specifically to the article “Suspense in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find'” and identify something the writer says that you would not have realized had you read the story alone without the article.