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In the essay about suspense in her story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor writes writes that readers, like the ancient Greek viewers of tragedy, “should know what is going to happen in this story so that the element of suspense in it will be transferred from its surface to its interior.” We know what the story is about on the surface. What do you feel the story is about in its “interior?”
Please be sure to include your section number at the end of your response and address comments to others by name.
79 thoughts on “Week 8 Discussion”
Section 0503:
After reading the story there are many different messages or ways to take the story. Throughout the story we see different characters ,for example a grandmother, a son, and his kids. They’re planning to take a road trip and the grandma wants to go to Tennessee to visit her friends but they end up going to Florida instead,though there was a criminal on the loose around there. After further examination the story and one of the characters, specifically the grandmother we see how she in a way lives in the past. She’s always speaking about the past and is a very old fashioned woman, which we see especially in the way she treats people of color. Due to this this could bring about different possible interpretations of what this story could mean, and bringing about these points is indirectly sending the readers a message. In my opinion due to all of these things occurring it brings about a lesson to not live in or let the past consume you because when you do you can end up with an unsavory outcome.
Hi Alexis,
It is true that the grandmother lives largely in the past, particularly remembering her own experiences when she was young. I interpreted this as connecting to the spiritual void present within her for most of the story, as the grandmother is self-absorbed and deeply concerned with her own image above all else. You may have a point about the way she treats people of color, and this thread of the story becomes even more interesting when tied into her revelation at the end about the connected nature of mankind. I wonder how this revelation might have affected her racial conduct, had it occurred to her earlier in the story.
Hello Alexis,
I agree with your interpretation of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” as the story mainly focuses and pays attention to the grandmother and her background. She does react differently to people of different color and she states herself as a lady and her connections with the past. However, she does prove herself as spiritual at the end when Misfit arrives and is murdering the family. She tries to save herself and tells him that he can change for the better and does not have to be a criminal.
Hey Alexis, I agree when you said “all of these things occurring it brings about a lesson to not live in or let the past consume you because when you do you can end up with an unsavory outcome.” because look at how the grandmother ended up! Her living in her past, all she cares about is her appearence of being a “lady” she thinks that thats going to save her life , as we noticed at the end with her encounter with Misfit which he didnt care about nothing she was saying so she ended up dead.
The story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” appears at face value to be about a family who is murdered on a road trip. However, at its interior, the story is about much more than this. The story carries with it overtones of spirituality, grace, and salvation, specifically in relation to the character of the grandmother. The story tracks her progression from being worldly and concerned with outward appearance up to her dying moment, in which she comes to realize the interconnectedness of people and perhaps even gains salvation. All through the story, the grandmother’s primary concerns are appearance and notions of propriety. However, right at the end of the narrative, she looks at the Misfit and declares that he is her child, and in this final moment comes to understand the spiritual bonds shared by each and every person. When cross-referenced with O’Connor’s Catholic faith, this spiritually-informed interpretation of the text seems to hold even more weight.
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Hey Justine,
I completely agree with the fact that the story has a deeper meaning, it isn’t just about a family who happens to a serial killer while they are on a road trip. Throughout the story, the grandmother talks about the past, and how things had changed over the years. But most importantly she speaks about her faith, Jesus and how praying is something that could benefit a person.
Justine, thank you for this excellent insight into the “interior” of both the story and the author’s faith. As you know, O’Connor admits in her essay that most modern-day people will not relate to her more spiritual view of the story—and she wrote that in the 1950s when many Americans were much more tied to faith and church.
Hey Justine. Your interpretation of the interior meaning of this story really sparked new thoughts for me. I see how the story carries overtones of spirituality. However, I don’t consider the grandmother to be a true person of faith. Her religious preachings seem to be more of a plea for her life. A true person of faith does not preach religion only at their own convenience. For me, the notion of spirituality in this story is just a mere representation of people who claim to be followers of god on the surface, but in reality are only religious when they deem it necessary to be.
You also say the grandmother perhaps gains salvation upon her demise. I wish the author dove deeper into this and perhaps gave us some insight on how exactly she gained salvation. Isn’t it kind of ironic that salvation is defined as preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss yet the grandmother had to be harmed in order for her to gain her own form of salvation? Maybe the misfit granted her salvation from herself because had she continued living as she was, she may have never come to realize the interconnectedness of people that you mentioned. Thanks for the food for thought!
Section – 0505
The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is about a family including the grandmother, sons, and his children. They all plan a trip to Florida but the grandmother wanted for the family to go to Tennessee instead because she explains that a criminal by the name of Misfit is on the loose and is headed towards Florida but the family ignores her advice since she is just the grandmother and continues heading to Florida. A deeper interior of this story is related to the grandmother as she is very spiritual and old fashioned and claims to be a lady as she showed by her appearance. The theme of this story is death and the battle between good and evil. The family ends up crossing paths with Misfit and is murdering the family as he is ordering them into the woods. The grandmother tries to be compassionate with Misfit and explains that he is a good human being and does not have to continue with this life of crime which portraits Misfit as the evil and the grandmother as the good. She believes that he should pray to Jesus instead of taking these actions.
Section 0503
Section 0503: Hello Gagandeep, I agree with what you say about the theme of the story and its deeper meaning. As I mentioned in my first post I do believe that the story is more related to the grandmother due to the fact that she as a character teaches a lesson about holding on to the past. The theme of the story does seem to be the battle between good and evil and really shines through when the grandmother tries to sway the criminal, but in the end still ends up dead.
Gagandeep, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. I wonder if you might look a bit more closely at this Grandmother. Does she exhibit the behavior of a deeply religious person during the course of the story? Is her self-centered ploy to change the itinerary very thoughtful of others? And what about how she sneaks the cat into the car, knowing well that her son doesn’t like to travel with the cat? (And how does the presence of the cat set off the fatal accident?) Is she a broad-minded person? Is she a good influence on the children? Is she a racist? Is she responsible for the detour the family takes, which leads them straight into a ditch? Does she show compassion before she finds herself facing the barrel of a gun?
Gagandeep I agree with you on the theme of the story but I think that the grandmother is not really a spiritual person until the end of the story to me she just preaches about things that fit her views on life with out a proper understanding and when faced with a life and death situation she changes for the better but before that she was just a vain woman who cared about how others saw her and how she fit into the views of what was right not what was really right and is that really right why should she only change when faced with life or death situation? and suddenly she is seen as a spiritual person because of one moment in her life.
Gagandeep,
I agree with what you say about the deeper interior of this story is related to the grandmother old fashioned person. I think the grandmother is not a very spiritual person. For example, one moment that we can that the grandmother is spiritual when she says Misfit needs to pray to Jesus. And when Misfit is pointing the gun to her she talks about Jesus. In other parts of the story, it does not really show that the grandmother is a very spiritual person. The grandmother is an old fashioned person because she keeps mention of her past life story and she has a way of treats people of color.
After reading, the interior of the story seems to be mostly related to the grandmother as she is seen to hold on to the past as her main choice of lifestyle and is very spiritual. The story guides the reader from the self-concern about her image within society and the importance of appearance to her final breaths realizing connections of every person and the beauty of those bonds. She begins to notice how deep these connections are and it opens her mind from being worried about the appearance of herself. Referring to what O’Connor states, the elements of suspense transferred from the grandmothers’ ideal way of how life supposed to be up until death sends a message to the reader that life is not linear and appearance is not everything. There’s more to life than what you think outside of your way of living. We are all subject to change our ways even from said ‘evil’.
Section: 0505
Brandon, I like your phrasing about life not being linear and appearance not being everything. I think these twin ideas are very vital to the interior of this story. You are right that we take an interior journey through the Grandmother’s psyche from her self-concern to “her final breaths” when, by what O’Connor terms “grace,” she experiences a new vision of reality.
Section 0503,
When I finished reading “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, the story talks about many themes and gives us different messages with each character. Throughout the story , it tells us about a family taking a road trip to Florida and without the way the grandmother complains about not going to Tennessee and reminisce about the past wishing things didn’t change. The character of the grandmother, symbolizes someone who isn’t willing to adapt to the future and remains living the past without a doubt. The two children, June Star and John Wesley represents two children who aren’t really paying attention to the reality of things rather they are enjoying their bliss of innocence and childhood.The story mentions many themes throughout the story, its talks about having faith as death occurs for example, while the Misfit is pointing the gun to the grandmother she talks about Jesus and how you should pray to him for some type of guidance and hope. Another theme is Violence, at the ending is where most of the violence occur when the family runs into the Misfit, I think violence there represent the Misfit and how he was exposed to that during his earlier years.
After reading “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” I think that the story’s interior is about how some people change when faced with their end while others stay the same I say this because in the beginning of the story the grandmother was vain, holier-than-thou, and manipulative person who was stuck in the past of how things used to be and did not want to accept the present for what is was , she also had a clear view of a person at face value in her mind she did not tend t look deeper because for her first impression of a person was always right until she has an epiphany when faced with the misfit she comes to realize that her and others like her are partly responsible for the way the misfit is because all they care about is physical and material things and how the world see them how they fit into what everyone thinks is right and preach about things they have yet to understand in then end she lets go of her vain ways and try’s to accept the misfit as her own child thus gaining salvation. while her family stayed exactly the same and did not change even hen faced with death her two grand children were rude and disrespectful till the end they did not see that even thought they were young their actions and words were wrong and try to amend them. and her son continued to dismiss his mothers opinions on what was the right thing for him to do because to him to did not matter. so in the end the grandmother learned that everyone in the world is connected spiritually weather is be big or small and that even if you do not know someone personally your actions and words can still affect them. 0503
Ariadna, your post makes me think of O’Connor’s contention—and the Catholic belief— that the state of one’s soul at the hour of death makes the difference between salvation and damnation. In her essay, the author writes that the Misfit saves the Grandmother for eternity by terrifying her into that one moment of grace and compassion. The other members of the family do not have this moment of grace. Maybe the Grandmother’s personality, especially her talkative nature, saves her in the end too. Many readers find it hard to accept the author’s interpretation of her own story because they don’t share her religious convictions. But O’Connor expects this. People may read the story in many different ways, but there is only one way in which she could have written it, she says in her article.
Section 0503
I don’t have much of a religious bone in my body and perhaps that’s why I don’t see the grandmother being saved towards the end. I think that if there was god or religion or a savior your actions at the end don’t make up for your entire life. That being said… I think the story points out how foolish it is to be 100% good or bad. Actually, seemingly impossible. I think the misfit isn’t a real person but an idealized for the sake of a story. We all make mistakes and it’s silly to try to be completely good all the time… Nah, it’s an act of futility. And ultimately… maybe… in that sense, I actually feel bad for the grandmother and the entire family. The grandmother is living in the past most of the time… but she cannot or will not recognize a point of view outside of her own. Bailey won’t stand up for himself… and maybe that’s why he married someone so dull. He can’t live in a world where his wife would take the stage over his mother. The children act out because they have grown up and learned that they must. I don’t think anyone’s inherently bad they just are… which brings me to my final point… I can not imagine a life of existence without any sort of action or disposition that prompts you to believe so deeply that you must chase what you want. In that sense, the misfit is the only one in the story that is really truly living. I agree with O’Conner, imagine what he could accomplish in another life and different choices.
Curtis, WOW! What a great post. In very clear, conversational language, you have drawn a perfect portrait of this family. Your comments also prove that one doesn’t have to be religious (not even one bone’s worth) to relate strongly to O’Connor’s message about living a committed and vibrant life. I love your remark about how impossible it is for you to imagine a life “without any sense of action or disposition that prompts you to believe so deeply that you must chase what you want.” As you so beautifully suggest, those beliefs do not have to be based on religion.
Hi Curtis, I fully agree with you that the story brings forth a good point regarding individuals are not “100% good or bad”. The Misfit’s comprehension of world balance can be sensed when he mentions ‘ “Jesus thrown everything off balance.” ’ relating his personal perspective of life like the Ying and Yang. The Misfit is more of a realist than the grandmother who can be portrayed as an idealist.
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Section 0505
After reading the story “ A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Connor, it has some related to religion. The story has many themes and gives the reader some messages. The story starts from family planning has a tour to Florida, but grandmother wants to go to Tennessee and complain about having a trip to Florida. The interior of the story is related to the character which is the grandmother. Throughout the story, we can see the grandmother is very spiritual and old fashioned. For example, the grandmother has a way of treats people of color. The moment that the grandmother says Misfit needs to pray to Jesus, we can see that she is a very religious character. And when Misfit points the gun to the grandmother, she is talking to Misfit that he is a good man and does not need to continue with the crime. In my opinion, one of the themes for this story is about how the grandmother tie to faith towards religion she believes ends up her life.
Jiaxian, it’s great to hear from you! The Db has been pretty empty this week. You are right that the Grandmother is at the interior of this story. However, I hope you’ll review my lecture on the Week 8 page entitled “Where Is the Goodness?” In the lecture I discuss the character of the Grandmother, as well as the others. Don’t be fooled by her apparent religiosity. Would a truly Christian woman behave as she does? Ask yourself what causes the accident in this story? What is her reaction right after the accident? Do we see her asking about the children or about her daughter-in-law, who has broken her shoulder? What are her values? Does she take the wishes of others into consideration? Is her sudden turn to religion and Jesus based on faith or a desire to save her own neck?
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, reading this story I was able to see the similar format read in greek tragedy, as the protagonist gives key clues to the reader in the beginning, of what will occur towards the end. The interior message I felt in this piece is that; one’s action can cause others suffering. The grandmother seemed to have a self-righteous personality, which can be sensed throughout the story until the end. For instance, the way O’Connor describes her apparel to give us a visual in the way she carried herself, but most of all her expressing the reminiscence of her youth. I would say the rising point in this passage is the grandmother’s white lie that led her grandchildren to divert the course of their destination to Florida, which was an abrupt selfish action that caused the family’s misfortune due to her diminishing memory. Although the gentleman whom O’Connor calls ‘Misfit’, has a similar vein personality like the grandmother, he was very cautious and manipulative while he spoke, but he did not hide his intentions. The difference between the protagonist and antagonist is that the Misfit has no remorse with the actions, opposite to the grandmother who does feel remorse of guiding his family in the wrong direction and giving the wrong information.
Section: 0505
Stephanie, what an excellent look into the interior of the story. Yes, as in Greek tragedy (I also love this reference!), the actions of one person can cause the suffering of others. How true this is in this story. The Grandmother’s decision to bring the cat against her son’s wishes is where it all begins. Then, later, she persuades him to take a detour, which leads them into a ditch and ultimately into the hands of the Misft. She does not intend to have her family killed, but all that occurs is a direct result of her selfishness. You are right too that there is a good deal of foreshadowing in this story. I think the literary critique in this week’s activities highlights this. I agree that the Misfit has no remorse, but do we see a moment in this story where the Grandmother suffers remorse? I see a moment of grace and compassion for the Misfit, but I’m not sure she lives long enough to feel remorse for what her actions have brought about—at least, the readers don’t get to see this. Thank you for a great discussion!
Another interesting point was that her exclamation that he was “The Misfit!” was quite possibly what caused him to murder her family, as he was on the run and couldn’t afford compassion to them. From what can be inferred, he was quite experienced in being betrayed, and perhaps cannot easily trust another. In the beginning, before the Grandmother shouting his title out, he was considering on how to help them turn over the car and help them on the way, but now, he is compelled to kill. It’s just interesting to see how the different paths could have diverged, and how unlucky a family can be.
Kexin, please be sure to address comments to others by name so we can all follow along. Thanks!
Thank you professor! You are right, there are no direct indications of the grandmother feeling some kind of remorse for her families death, however she does feel ashamed that she made them take a detour in the wrong state.
I like your interpretation because not only do you connect the story to greek tragedy. You stated the rising point, the difference between the protagonist and antagonist and brought out key points that a lot of people including me did not.
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Patricia, please address comments to others by name. Also, it’s not enough to just agree with someone else’s comments. You need to enlarge the discussion. Don’t forget that the length requirement for responses is at least 75 words.
Section 0505
In the long dialogue between the Grandmother and the Misfit, i believe that the true interior story was one of conflict in belief. The grandmother believes that any soul can be saved if they repent but the Misfit believes that if he’s going to die anyway, the best way to spend his living moments is being evil. The two ideas conflict from start to finish however I think that the Misfit was considering what this woman had to say and having a real discussion with her about what he thinks the motive of his doings was. The outcome of this conversation was the Grandmother being shot, however I think that the Misfit was close to changing his mind. He seemed intrigued by the conversation and in the final moments before the he shot the grandmother in the chest, he was shocked and scared of the touch he felt from the grandmother. I believe the description of his reaction was both a literal representation of his reaction but also a figurative shock from the grandmothers efforts. I believe that this story is about the futility of the grandmothers efforts to change the Misfit’s ways. Although she came close, he will always be that man. The big picture idea may be that people stick by their beliefs no matter the circumstances. The grandmother held her belief even in the face of death, but so did the Misfit.
Justin, I appreciate your thoughts on how the Misfits was swayed, but only on the last moments he still shot the Grandmother. That way of thinking brought another point of perspective for me, as the story was already spectacular with its implied messages and thoughts; but now, I can go on with the thought that the grandmother was unfortunate to that degree. Or perhaps fortunate? Her family were all dead and she was stuck in the middle of nowhere, sadly. The story couldn’t have ended with her alive, or the message of the story and the eventual conclusion would have been less moving.
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Justin, your comment that faith is the element at the interior of this story is well taken. I agree with what you write about the Misfit and how he seems to desperately want to believe and how he almost seems won over during his conversation with the Grandmother. It is her touch, however, rather than her phony words, that ultimately causes such a strong reaction in him. I don’t agree with you, however, about the Grandmother. I don’t think the text supports the idea that she has any real religious beliefs. She prattles on about Jesus, but has she ever pondered what the teachings of Jesus are? Does she live her life by any Christian code of behavior? Isn’t she the very epitome of selfishness and oblivion? So I don’t think she “held her faith” even in the face of death. I think she found her faith in the face of death—and lucky for her, according to Catholic theology.
As a story, “A good man is hard to find” is masterfully written. The story invokes a sense of sympathy for the reader, and depending on the reader themselves, they sympathize with either The Misfit or the Grandmother. We know the conclusion of the story from the moment Bailey was brought into the woods; There was only death. Yet, the obvious outcome led my thought processes to something deeper, to how The Misfit became this way, and the eventual reveal was the element of suspense that existed. For, you see, if we know what will happen in the future, we tend to live in the past and now. I personally like this story for the different question it poses. Though the Misfit murdered the family in cold blood due to the Grandmother recognizing him, he still possessed an odd sort of charm as the story continued. He was a product of his environment, and the idea that juvenile prisons are something that only creates more hardened criminals are implied within the story. From the Misfit’s words, he was just a normal child before accusations of murder was pinned on his head, though his father that was killed was long dead from natural causes. He had a good upbringing, but then his life went downhill. The messages of spirituality, on how someone can be terrible on the exterior, but have a compassionate inner layer for family, is present in the grandmother when she finally realized on the verge of death that she cared.
section 0505
For me, this story on its interior is about a cowardly selfish figure that will do whatever is necessary to protect themselves and their own interests. The grandmother is this figure. Even from the very beginning she complains about taking a trip to Florida, and wants to go to Tennessee instead even though Bailey and the whole family want to go to Florida. The grandmother dates herself by constantly talking about the olds days and how people were more respectful even though her grandchildren don’t want to listen to her and her nonsense. On more than one occasion she insults black people by using a bigoted term to describe them. She displays a great deal of stupidity and selfishness when she reveals to the misfit that she recognizes him. Any person with any sense wouldn’t alert a known criminal that they recognize them after knowing they’ve escaped from prison. Perhaps she thinks she can charm the misfit by showing she recognizes him and then telling him she feels hes a good person deep down. However her greatest act of cowardice and betrayal is shown when her son and grandson are led off into the woods to be shot, all she can think about is saving herself. Even after her daughter and law and two grand daugthers meet that same grisly fate, she still only wants to save her own skin. She is a symbol of selfishness throughout the story and is ultimately shot too.
Section 0505
Giulia, you’ve written a good indictment of the Grandmother and her fatal selfishness. Everything you say here is borne out in the text, especially the shocking fact that she doesn’t seem moved by the injury and deaths of her grandchildren and daughter-in-law. I do see a moment when she wails for her son as he is being taken away. Your leap to the ending is puzzling though. What about the moment when she touches the Misfit? This is the part of the story which the author says is so necessary—that without this gesture, there would be no story. Do you think anything happens at the end? If not, is the point of the story just to show a portrait of human selfishness?
This story follows a grandmother, who is selfish and narrow-minded, as she travels with her family on a road trip. On the surface, the story is a tragedy, with the family being murdered by a vicious criminal. In the interior, I think the story is about the grandmother and her transformation leading to her enlightenment. For most of the story, we view the grandmother as a shallow, selfish person, but she believes otherwise. She conveys her remarks throughout as it were gospel. Everything she was and believed in led her, and unfortunately, her family, to take the road that would lead to their demise. Up to this point, the grandmother is still very selfish even after we are introduced to the Misfit. She pleads to the Misfit to not shoot a lady, but what about her grandchildren or son. After, what we imagine, to be the brutal slaughter of her family, is concerned about her preservation and is preaching to the Misfit about Jesus. Only up to the last moments of her life is she enlightened to reality, unburdened from her “surface” beliefs of who she was, to realizing something deeper, as if she finally found faith. Maybe the grandmother sacrificed herself for enlightenment, just as Jesus sacrificed himself.
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Hi Kenny,
I enjoyed reading your analysis and thought about the interior of the story. I agree with most of your points as I did mention them in mine as well, although maybe in a slightly different manner. It was great that you mentioned her transformation as well as her enlightenment, even though that was unfortunately towards the very last moment of her life. I think I can kind of see why you mentioned that last bit in this analysis, but I personally don’t agree. I believe the grandmother did have this epiphany just before she died; however, I don’t think she was actively thinking about sacrificing life or anything at the moment of her enlightenment. I think she was only seeing nothing else but what is in front of her, and that was a fallen man, whom she felt sympathy for because she somehow felt responsible for how he turned out. She appeared as if she had nothing else on her mind besides the thought of sympathy for the man.
Gwyneth, your phrasing is excellent when you write that the Grandmother “was seeing nothing else but what is in front of her, and that was a fallen man, whom she felt sympathy for because she somehow felt responsible for how he turned out.” Her epiphany happens in one brief flash, and then she is dead.
Hi Professor Conway,
I think the thoughts that led to my last sentence was the grandmother’s life was sacrificed, not necessarily self-sacrifice, for the purpose of transformation. I viewed the story as a symbol of faith and the journey to true faith and that the path to achieve this was the personal loss the grandmother suffered. I might be reaching here a bit.
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Kenny, these are excellent comments, and your one-sentence encapsulation is an example of a perfect thesis statement (“In the interior, I think the story is about the grandmother and her transformation leading to her enlightenment.”). I also like your phrasing when you write that the Grandmother conveys her remarks as if they were “gospel.” Great terminology for a discussion of this story. Your mention of “surface beliefs” is also excellent. Clearly, her sudden turn to Jesus is self-serving, and only at the very last minute of her life does she experience any true sense of the spiritual. Your last sentence about how perhaps the Grandmother sacrificed herself I’m not so sure about. She doesn’t have much choice about her death, and as you write, she hasn’t shown any particular zeal in trying to save the life of her family members.
Hi Kenny,
it was just interesting to read you point on the grandmothers transformation because to connect it to the real world I believe many of us go through this big transformation in our live whether it be from a traumatic event of just a realization of something in the world. further more I have it intriguing that you would think the grandmother near death is still selfish because its hard to think in that moment or experience. also to touch upon the “sacrifice of herself” although this is a good thought I just saw it has she didn’t to do anything of that sort it simply just happen.
Hi Kenny, I agree with you about the fact that the story has much more than the murder of a young family, it has to do more with the analysis that the character of the grandmother has to offer the reader; in my opinion, I can relate this character to some people from the oldest generations that till this day some are not able to let the past go and embrace the new generations; the understanding of this character comes from a self-centered and selfish ideology that at the very end has a sort of epiphany right before her death.
I’ve come to notice that the grandmother displayed her attachment to her past (how things used to be back in her day), outward appearances and how she thought they must have to do with how a person is inside, and religion. During the trip, she continues to criticize how her grandchildren act, and always compares them to how it used to be back then. Her doing this all the time led me to believe that she thinks the old-fashioned way of doing things is how it should always be. She also cared so much about appearance, her own and others’. On the way to Florida, she dressed up all fancy, not really comfortable and practical for a road trip to give herself a sense of superiority and possibly a boost in confidence. She also kept trying to convince the Misfit that he is a good man because he looks like he came from a good family and such. I’m not all too sure if she truly believes what she was saying at that time, or that she’s just trying to talk him out of killing her. Lastly, she had a conversation with The Misfit about faith. She was asking if he prayed and talked to him about Jesus and tried to convince him to pray so that Jesus may save him. Everything that I mentioned above all points to hypocrisy. The old woman had been living her whole life a lie, trying to spoil herself with materialistic things and concern herself with only the superficial. She realizes this at the end when her head clears up; as her final moments crept up on her, she realizes that she is possibly responsible for the young man that is in front of her now, that they are connected in a spiritual kind of way. She understands his point of view and offers a gesture of sympathy as she touches his shoulder and calls him one of her babies.
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Gwyneth, your emphasis on the Grandmother’s self-satisfaction is well taken. She seems to think that she is doing everything right—the old-fashioned way—and that she herself is above reproach. It’s true that, in fact, she has been living a kind of lie, imagining herself to be so good. Interestingly, the Misfit also realizes that he has been living a kind of lie by devoting himself to evil. At least this is what the author says about her character. The Grandmother’s touch is so unbearable to the Misfit because it tells him that compassion and goodness do, in fact, exist. If this hypocritical old woman can feel love for him after he has just slain her whole family, then he has been wrong all along in his denial of goodness.
Hi Gwyneth,
Thanks for reading my post. I think there is a larger meaning to the Misfit in the story. His devout to evil is as strong as a person with true faith in Jesus. He justifies his actions as righteous to his belief. I think at the very last moment of the grandmother’s life, the Misfit was shown a reality that did not fit into his belief, almost like showing someone that believes in God that God did not exist.
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Ugh I am so annoyed. Just as I was finished my response my computer totally crashed.
Anyways, I want to discuss why I really enjoyed this story, and what components specifically I am attracted to. I really like when things in life seem to be not complex, but when you take a closer look, you find that you can look for hours and keep on discovering new things. I think the once seemingly light characters with stereotypical personalities of this story, end up telling us so much more than I would have given this story credit for just by reading it at a first glance.
The title itself “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, asks the reader to look for a good man in the story. The two characters where I see some good, although it is hard to find, is the Grandmother and the Misfit. It is ironic because the Grandmother’s act of kindness- touch the Misfit and calling him her child, is what ultimately led to her death. The Misfit although completely evil can be acknowledged for his authenticity. He acted in a way that was ironically thought full but not thoughtful. It actually seems like he killed the grandmother on an impulse. Maybe if he was not so triggered by those words, he would have been able to come to a positive decison?
Sima, sorry about the computer crash! That’s awful. It’s so hard to reconstruct words that you worked hard to pull together. Thanks for trying again though. You’re so right that if you read this story glancingly, you miss so much of what is going on in its interior. And yes, finding the goodness in these characters is hard to find, as the title suggests. The author would agree with you about the Misfit’s authenticity. While he has devoted his life to evil, he has committed himself to his purpose, unlike the other, oblivious characters in the story. The author writes that she likes to imagine that the compassionate touch of the Grandmother in that one moment of compassion will become “a thorn in his heart” that will lead him to become “the prophet he was always meant to be.”
Sima,
It’s incredible what a reflex response will have us do… However, this shows the misfit was under a great deal of stress because only then would his first response to her touching him would be to shoot her three times. Its also noted that he wasn’t the one to kill the others, that was his mates. I’m starting to wonder how many of the murders the Misfit actually participates himself, or possibly like evil people such as Charles Manson, the Misfit has a way with words and convinces other people to “do the dirty work.”
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In this particular story, we can see that the interior plot comes from within one of the main characters which are the grandmother; the entire idea of the story is to describe old women that was raised in a racist, conservative, and very pretentious family and that tries to translate this to her family, she constantly judges the people she is surrounded with a considered herself as a “pure” being, which will later be represented by her idea of being a lady and wearing a dress and a hat that will let everyone see how proper, good, and “broad” she is; virtues that according to herself she only possesses. The internal issue of this story is probably the inability of the grandmother to realize and criticize anyone but herself; the hypocrisy, selfishness, and dishonesty this woman has is never directed upon her but its always someone else’s issue or fault, usually towards men. “A good man is hard to find,” Red Sammy said. “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.”
At the end of the story, we can see that even though the “avoided” being in danger, and continuously convinced her family to be safe and careful, she brought the end to her family by being selfish and admitting not only to herself but to the people surrounding her that she was wrong and that she could’ve saved the children’s lives instead of hers.
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“A Good Man is Hard To Find” By Flannery O’ Conner the interior of the story it involves a selfish, manipulating,small-minded character a Grandmother and her son Bailey and the kids June star and John Wesly a family trip that changes due to the manipulating grandmother a trip from flordia to tennessee, but still end up going to flordia. The grandmother claims there’s a criminal out in the losse “the misft”. from the beginning of the narrative story, she been superficial, a very selfish grandmother but she as herself believes she this good women and is satisfied herself as a human being.
In addition this, throughout the narrative story this selfish grandmother cross path with ” The MisFit” someone who is intelligent, self-aware, passionate and the because of this “philosophical”, the grandmother found deep with her inner self and see this other compassionate side of herself that she think they would be there.
In conclusion, to wrap it up i re-read as many times as i could in order for me to understand the story, there’s many interesting parts of the story that must be read in order to understand the story. i can personally connected with this story, and feel we can all connect with ths story because in life we all come cross path someone and they either they are a life-lesson or a blessing to us and truly each person we meet in life is for a purpose in order to set us to the right path we want in our life. like the same way, the grandmother found her compassionate side with “the misfit” we all come across path each person in our life to either better ourselves and help us grow,or it can be the opposite you are an angel to someone life as well. lastly, there’s always a purpose for us on why we meet someone so professor conway thank you for sharing this story.
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Hi Stephanie!
I couldn’t agree with you more. I believe the grandmother played a significant roll in how their fate played out, and in an odd turn of events, it made her have a quick epiphany of her own when faced with mortality. I find it quite interesting how the narrator did not elaborate more on the family’s reaction to being faced with mortality though. The Misfit was definitely a wake up call for the family. He, in a very cynical way, ended up becoming a form of a protagonist with the way he revealed his philosophies to the grandmother.
After reading the story and the lecture which brought up many great points, I think the interior of the story has a lot to say about people’s false perceptions of themselves. This was probably my favorite story out of everything we have read so far because I was extremely scared for the whole entire family and I kept thinking about how crazy it is, that due to the grandmother’s selfish choices, they ended up in that situation. Part of me thought “damn all of that could have been avoided!” But the very ending of the reading when Misfit pretty much claimed she was only “nice” or “good” in the face of death, made me think maybe it was her fate. “‘She would of been a good woman,’ The Misfit said, ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.’” (O’Conner) His words indicate how he did not believe the act she put on, however I’m sure she believed the act she put on. It seemed that all the characters truly felt they were great in some way just because they were not horrible. Overall they reminded me of many people out in society unaware of themselves (including myself) who truly cannot accurately assess who they are at times. I also found it very sad that the kids had to die because they were simply products of their grandmother’s large ego and were picking up their behavior from her, and because their parents enabled it. I was truly amazed at the fact that the Misfit had no mercy for the kids, but I guess he had no choice considering his whole role in the story.
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Samantha, yes with this society we live there’s many people i myself are most certain unware of ourselves and our actions and most certain be careful of what we do we wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt someone like in the narrative story as it’s being mention due to the grandmother selfish choices. Things wouldn’t ended up like that if it wasn’t to the grandmother selfish choices that she made. but, also i agree with your viewpoint how the interior is about false perceptions of themselves, but in my opinion i believe it also have to do with how there’s always a purpose in why we meet people and how they can be a blessings in disguise. as it’s being mention in the story, she found her deep self” that “compassion side and reveling those qualities.” if she didn’t cross path towards “the misfit”
overall,i enjoy the story in my opinion and would love to read these spiritual readings.
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Stephanie, I appreciate your comment! The point you made about her eventually finding herself as mentioned in the story maybe true, but I think if it had to take her crossing paths with the “Misfit” to find herself, then that is a sad life she was living because any compassion or good in her could/should have been revealed soon before ever meeting him if it was ever in there. I mean, I don’t know the grandmother and not too much is exposed about her life, so there is a chance in all her years of living that the world did not always revolve around her.
However what good did it do for her to find herself right before her death? She could not at that point utilize her new knowledge of herself or share it with anyone.
Samantha, i appreciate your comment! i believe crossing path with the “misfit” and to see as this change person and compassionate side it’s just sad because in my opinion, we all have these great equalities within us that it’s sad how this grandmother living like this. i do believe, that she could had revealed these great equalities before she met him.
much appreciated your opinion! thank you.
On the surface “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a story about a family’s unwilling journey to their own demise. There are many symbolic moments in the story as well. One symbolic moment is when they stumble upon Red Sam and his restaurant. The grandmother seems to hit it off with Red Sam as they reminisce about the past and both agree that life was better back in the day. Red Sam and the grandmother, I believe, represents the past. Red Sam is an unsightly old man clinging to a lifestyle that glorified slavery and racism. The grandmother is somewhat selfish and all she talks about during the road trip is her past experiences. This shows how she is also self-centered. Regardless of them considering the past an ideal time to live, based on how they turned out, we can come to the conclusion that their “golden days” weren’t that great at all. Also, the cat kind of symbolized death itself. Bailey did not enjoy the cat’s company and it was because of the cat that the family was led to their doom. The grandmother’s selfishness drove her to sneak the cat on the trip. Had she not done that, the family would have survived. In my opinion, the grandmother was selfish till the bitter end. All of the things she spoke to the Misfit were just pleas for her own life. I think on the interior this story is about the connection between morality and your perception of the world. The grandmother believes she can instill some type of moral standard into her killer by forcing her religious beliefs onto him. However, the Misfit is a very experienced man who has been through enough to not fear God and he acts only on impulse. This is why when the grandmother attempts to make a kind gesture, the Misfit is triggered into killing her.
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Syed, great comments, but I’m not going to elaborate on Friday night.
When reading the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” we see on the external that the whole story is about a family who goes on a road trip to be murdered by the serial killer. However, to delve in the story and in a sense to look beyond the lines we see a more of the topic of religion tied to the grandmother character. When talking about religion I see liberation and spirit. Throughout the story we see the development of the grandma; in the beginning her only concerns reflect a more of an old fashion mindset in which she only thinks about appearance. Furthermore, in her final moments facing the serial killer; the Misfit, she comes to realize the true meaning what is shared between people. One is being the connection that people have not on a physical level but the on a spirit level. Which come to my second point with this understanding she obtained this liberation from the old fashion mindset because when we in that position it is equivalent to being trapped in box and once out of this box we are free to do what we want in a different perspective. (ENG 201 0505) [11615]
Hi Mosheur,
Your comments opened up an entire thought process for me that I would not have otherwise related to this specific story. I often experience the frustration that comes with being misunderstood by the older generation when it comes to religion. I would even make it broader to say people who have more of a religious look exterior, but you dig a bit deeper, their values do not seem to align with their image. The Grandmother in the story carried herself in a way of superiority, and held herself up to high standards, but when you analyze her character, she does not appear to be somebody with strong virtues in character.
After reading “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” I noticed how the story follows the grandmother’s life and everything has changed since she was a kid to how things are now. She doesn’t change the way she lives because it is how she was taught and grew up to be; although she may not like some things the kids did now that they may have not done back in her days. When the family decides not to go to Florida instead decided to go to Tennessee, they did not know what was going happen on the way there. After reading everything the family has been through I believe that the family was put through tests, the accident, the Misfit. And through it, all the grandmother kept her faith and tried to pass it on to others. I feel like the way she treated people of color was different than how she treats the others and it may be because of the way she grew up, and how she always wanted to look good (like a lady) is if anything were to happen to her people would know she was a lady, but her faith doesn’t seem to change at all and even though the Misfits were killing her family she still had faith they could change and that they could lead a better life than what they were living at the moment.
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Shirly, I don’t usually respond personally to posts submitted after Wednesday, but I urge you to revisit the story and read the lecture “Where Is the Goodness” on the Week 8 page. Also, read the posts of other students here. I think a review of these materials might enlarge your idea of the Grandmother as a woman of faith. There is a lot of dark, ironic humor in this story.
The story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” offers a lot within its interior. For starters, it is clear that the children of the story exhibit ungrateful behavior and lack compassion and respect for their authority figures and elders. The parents exhibit an emotional distance, as if they are “over” being parental figures. The grandmother portrays both a protagonist and antagonist character, someone who offers plenty of moral and positive insight but also lacks consideration for others (her words seem to only be spoken as a way to benefit herself). I feel as if the story’s interior takes an unusual approach in creating suspense by shining a negative light (or hovering a dark cloud) over the family, as if their attitudes and mentalities are meant to set them up for disaster. The combination of the selfishness of the children, the lack of patience of the parents, and the self-indulgence of the grandmother, ultimately lead them to their literal graves. For example, if the grandmother had not quickly spoken about the plantation she had supposedly remembered from childhood, thus enticing the children to whine and complain about visiting the plantation, and had taken the time to remember the proper location of the plantation, they were less likely to encounter “The Misfit”. Ironically, I believe The Misfit played a significant role as a form of a “reality-check” for the family. It was their negligence of common-courtesy and compassion that lead the family to their fate.
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The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a family that plans a trip down to Florida. The interior of the story is based mostly on the grandmother. She contradicts herself many times in the story. When talking to Red Sam, she is constantly saying how there are no good people left in the world. Yet, when she is faced with the Misfit, she keeps telling him how she thinks he is a good man. Before they left for the trip, she had nothing but bad things to say about him. Throughout the whole trip she is constantly talking about herself and her past. Infact, her infatuation with her past gets the family killed. If they did not go back to the house the grandma suggested, they probably would not have died. In the end, we see that the grandmother turns to faith for salvation. Though, this was not her attitude the entire story. She only turned to God and Jesus in a time of need.
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I agree that the whole time the grandmother was acting for selfish reasons. She shows us that she is deceitful, manipulative, self-absorbed and racist. You made a great point about her bringing up to Red Sam that she thought there weren’t any more good people in the world. Then she tries to convince Misfit not to kill her because he is a good man. Her implying that they are kin is very ironic being that he is a serial killer and she is not a good person as well.
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Thajmire, please refer comments to others by name; otherwise, we can’t follow the conversation.
Hello Ava,
From reading your response, “She only turned to God and Jesus in a time of need”, it reminded me of a question I asked to my catholic friend, “does everyone at church truly believe in God?” Her response states that there is always one moment in one’s life where they felt hopeless and devastated, so when someone offers help and they will seemingly follow. In this case of Grandma, she was hopeless and devastated to survive so all she could think of is God. When the Misfit said Grandma would have been a good woman, he clearly knows that she wouldn’t be calling him a good man if it wasn’t for the sake of her life. If we were all in Grandma’s shoes, aren’t we gonna do the same?
I did not view the grandmother that way- I only saw her criticism at first and then also labeled her a racist as she treats people of colour like objects. She judged her own child and then asked of him to take better care of his kids. Her son ends up being rather distant during the story. His kids are rowdy, especially June Star- she almost has no filter. I’ve experienced this situation, where the parent is used to the antics of said loud child and then does not curb them because they expect it. The grandmother however, because she also basks on her past and adores it more, expects better of the kids. She looks on the bright side of the killer when met with death because no one would like to end their life sad, right?
Weronika, to whom are you addressing this comment?
In the essay ” A Good Man is Hard To Find,” the writer tells a story about two types of morally wrong people. The grandmother in the story is a woman who believes that superficial things she does make up for her moral flaws. She shows us to be manipulative, egotistical, racist and deceitful. She still finds herself to be a “lady” because she keeps her self primped and prays. We meet a serial killer, “Misfit” who serves as a sort of prophet in the story. The grandmother begs the killer and calls him a good man and implies they are alike. In a way, I respect the killer because he knows he is morally wrong. He does not act as though he is the pillar of good. I find it ironic that he kills the grandmother after she tries to justify that she should stay alive because they are so alike. In the end, the grandmother is forced to see herself for who she is, a sinner. The interior meaning can be seen as no matter how hard you hide your flaws they will still be apart of you if you do not actively change them. You can not call yourself good if you still act in poor behavior.
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The essay “A Good Man is Hard to Find” describes a story of a family who plans to head down to Florida for a trip. However, there are many things that the interior of this story reveals to us. For the story has 2 types of people, and at that 2 types of wrong people as said by Thajmire. Its people who think they are pure and good and unable to do wrong, or their sins are dissipated when prayed upon, and people who are clearly wrong and they know it. The two characters, the grandmother and “misfit” have these two personalities and it intertwines with the family trip, ultimately, getting them killed with her being selfcentered and alwahs talking about herself and her past. To me, and im sure to others, the grandmother is keeping herself on a high pedistool and insisting that she and the misfit are the same, that they are alike, to not only keep herself alive in the time scrambling for salvation and faith in the end of the story, but to say that she is a good person, to keep her dignity and identify as a “lady”. When which all of it is just wrong and she ends up paying for it in the end.
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“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Conner, is about a family trip that steps borne upon a serial killer, the Misfit. Throughout the story, grandma reveals many of her graceful and elegant stories from the past, yet she seems self-centered and tries to have the family accommodate their vacation to East Tennessee for her connections. Grandmother’s treacherous thought thinking her religion could save her life, moreover, convincing the Misfit to believe in Jesus and calling him as her own baby and child. Grandma got executed at the moment when she reached out to the Misfit, her selfishness begging to survive and claiming a serial killer a good man. “She would have been a good woman…if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (Line 138), this is a great plot twist where the Misfit was clearly acknowledged that grandma’s kindness was solely for her own survival.
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Based on her excerpt, I expected, by the sheer amount of times she mentions violence the story would a thriller. O’Connor leaves us guessing as to what really does happen in the story other than for the big hints like the fact that there is a serial killer who is out for the main characters. Most stories contain suspense in order to draw interest from the reader, but suspense is very necessary in a thriller considering there are often dark tones or serious themes within the story. She explains that the grandmother is there to make the story realistic and to add a heart to the story, by giving it a lot of feeling. While reading the story, I found it quite heartwarming. The grandmother was full of life in comparison to her son and his kids. Her opinions are very old fashioned such as dressing well no matter the occasion, and constantly talking of her earlier life. She brings about a lot of controversy to her family however, treating people of colour rather unwell and as if they were exhibitions at museums, to gander at. Later on she meets Red Sammy and again, reminisced of the past. She relies on her old experiences to make new ones, however as times change, they adjust but she does not. She almost becomes brooding but in a way, very relatable. Most people can agree they have an older family member who complains that “everything is not as it used to be,” or that “everything used to be better.” It usually becomes a problem for them because they cannot adjust to the change. At the end, she begs to the Misfit to save her family- making the better judgement and hoping that he can turn for the better. He continues to spill the bad things he’s done but the grandma looks on the bright side. The Misfit does shoot her, but in the end laughs at her and believes that she only acted well in the face of her death.
After reading “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” By O’Connor, The surface of the story is a Tragedy because of the family being murdered on the road trip . The interior has to do with the grandmother. I realized a lot more of the grandmother as the story kept going, I noticed how manipulative and selfish she is. As she is always living in the past most of the time and not in the actual moment, I already seen what was coming her way. She uses her “religious beliefs” as way of trying to manipulate her way out of her encounter with Misfit by calling him a “good man” and revolving Jesus into the situation hoping that it might save her life and change the Misfit’s mind about not killing her. She later tells Misfit “ you wouldn’t shoot a lady would you” this already shows her selfishness because she’s just concerned for herself and not for the rest of her family.