In its “interior”, I feel that “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is about how the absence of “bad” or “evil” doesn’t necessarily make a person “good”. O’Connor introduces us to several characters, all of whom are very unlikeable. Bailey seems always annoyed, his wife doesn’t have much personality and both of their children are bratty and rude. The grandmother, however, is the one that stands out as having the attributes that are commonly considered as belonging to someone who is “good”. She dresses well, she believes in Jesus, she’s old, and she pretends to care for her grandchildren’s well-being. While none of these characters is actually too awful, none has any qualities that would indicate they were a good human being. I think O’Connor intentionally created these characters to be relatable to the reader, not necessarily that we personally identify with them, but in the sense that we all know people like each of these characters. We don’t consider them to be bad people, we might even subconsciously consider them to be good people if they are wealthy, religious, or take care of themselves physically. We especially don’t consider them to be bad when there is always the bad guy, or “Misfit”, to whom we can compare them.
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