Marisa Cuni week 8

Flannery O’Connor tries to paint a picture depicting the possibility of divine grace in a fight between good and evil. The story revolves around a family planning a tour to Florida, with the grandmother being the main character. She preferred going to Tennessee, but the family did not change their plans even after informing them of the Misfit’s gang in Florida. In many instances, the grandmother applied the term “good” indiscriminately, clouding the definition of a good man. She does this continuously until the term entirely loses its meaning. 

In Red Sammy’s incident, we see her definition of “good” to include blind faith, poor judgment, and gullibility. Sammy asks her why she let two strangers charge their gasoline after angrily protesting people’s general untrustworthiness. Despite the obvious situation that he had been defrauded, the grandmother replied that he did it because he is a “good man.” The grandmother later recognizes the Misfit and asks him if he would shoot a lady; the fact that he never replies that he would not denotes that he does not subscribe to the same moral code as she does. It was that very recognition that consequently led to the whole family’s death. Nevertheless, the grandmother proceeds to call him a good man, denoting some form of underlying value that the Misfit would not want to deny. In this incident, she defines “good” as asymmetrical, revealing her claim that he does not have “common blood” with her.

Succinctly, the grandmother was of a good heart, which compelled her to judge others as good despite the situation. Good people eventually get hurt by the evil people in society as we see grandmother continuously clinging to her superficial definition of good. O’Connor depicts how a person of the good heart may be taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives; hence the title of a good man is hard to find.