The only idea I would have missed in “A Good Man Is Hard to Hard to Find” had I not read the author’s article would be the designated roles of prophet and witch. While reading the story, I was irritated by the Grandmother’s blatant racism and biases towards people of color and her manipulative tendencies that inevitably resulted in the massacre of her entire family. Readers interpreting the grandmother as a witch may have seemed drastic and unnecessary, but location and time do affect one’s interpretation of written works. While reading, I grew to understand why some referred to her as a witch -hypocrisy aside, the lady was insufferable and had a ‘familiar’ like pet. I also noticed O’Connor reasoning to refer to the Misfit as a prophet – despite him killing the grandmother, his innate understanding of humanity shifted because of the conversation he had with her. The Misfit’s perception of justice and good and evil is warped, and O’Connor essentially used the Misfit to demonstrate any individual’s ability to change/shift mindsets.
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2 thoughts on “JBoland Discussion Board 9”
Hi JBoland, what a nice post! I loved that you included the fact that even though the Misfits is the one who could be seen as someone with an evil heart. However, I believe that just as you discussed, he is the character that the author of the story chose to deliver a deeper lesson to the readers, directly to the Grandmother. I also agree when you talk about how the grandmother’s behavior ended up causing the death of the entire family, which is for me, another important point of the story.
Jayveon, wow, that’s a great insight about the author’s use of the Misfit to “demonstrate any individual’s ability to change/shift mindsets.” It’s also a basic belief in the Christian faith—that no matter how bad you are, you can be redeemed if you are truly sorry and willing to change. For me, the grandmother isn’t a witch; she’s not as sexy or exciting as a witch. But she really does demonstrate the danger of being oblivious as you go through your days. She’s so unconscious while the Misfit is hyper-conscious. He’s terrible, but he’s conscious. Red Sammy is oblivious too. Yuk.