Reading Flannery O’Connor’s The Element of Suspense really helped me catch things in A Good Man Is Hard to Find that I might’ve missed otherwise. For one, O’Connor used suspense to show the grandmother’s hypocrisy and self-deception. The way she manipulated her son and his family to get her way had me unsure of how things would turn out. Her self-righteous attitude was another layer she dressed like a “lady,” but it was just for show because, deep down, she was prejudiced and dishonest. The suspense got even deeper when “The Misfit” showed up after the accident. His talk about religion and his memory lapse about why he was imprisoned brought up some big questions about justice and punishment. It felt like he was wrestling with his own humanity, especially in his conversation with the grandmother. The ending was classic but unexpected, violent, and grotesque. It really hit home how brutal and complicated human nature can be, and how she uses those shocking moments to make her readers think. Without her insights on suspense, I don’t think I would’ve noticed how these elements worked together to make the story so intense.
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