Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Essay

The Dysfunctional: Psychoanalysis of Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Murder of women, children, and even a baby is a harsh image used by Flannery O’Connor in â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find.† The imagery is an effective literary device used to convey ironic tragedy, the struggle of female characters, and the family unit. The story follows a family on a trip to Florida when their journey, interrupted by an ill-fated detour resulting in a car wreck, ends in murder after they cross paths with an escaped convict. Family dysfunction, female struggles, and tragedy are common themes in the stories written by Flannery O’Connor, and her characters often referred to as grotesque. In her story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† she†¦show more content†¦The stories usually follow a female antagonist, though the character is â€Å"grotesque,† and meets predictable tragic end, who, as a flawed hero, finds redemption. The flaws realistically depict her characters as human, pro ne to human emotional issues, products of their environments, and influenced by the relationships with other flawed humans. Although O’Connor has said that her writings try to reveal a failure of society to follow Christianity, as stated by Mark T. Mitchell, she â€Å"†¦ writes as both a Catholic and a Southerner†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"although the Catholicism is generally far more subtle than her Southernness.† (Mitchell). The stories also effectively demonstrate the dysfunction of families and an individual’s tendency to be self-centered. In the South Atlantic Review, Julie Buckner Armstrong explains that during, â€Å"†¦ O’Connor’s graduate training at the University of Iowa, [ ] she learned that being a good writer meant eliminating a (feminine) gendered voice from her fiction.† (Armstrong 130). Her debilitating disease, isolation, southern upbringing, religious beliefs, and a desire to have the male dominated literary commun ity seriously consider her works as a female writer influenced her writing style. In â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† the antagonist remains nameless, simply referred to as the grandmother. The grandmother is prim and proper, and portrayed as a typical matriarch. However, she freely criticizes her son,Show MoreRelated Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard To Find Essay1144 Words   |  5 PagesFlannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find is one of the most well-known short stories in American history. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a disturbing short story that exemplifies grace in extremity as well as the threat of an intruder. The story tells of an elderly grandmother and her family who embark on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother is a stubborn old woman with a low sense of morality. While on the trip, the grandmother convinces her son to take a detour which results in a brokenRead MoreFlannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Revelation1436 Words   |  6 Pagesand racism, which is observed in the perspective of black and white individuals. Some of the most familiar southern authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. One author in particular, Flannery O’Connor, is a remarkable author, who directly reflects upon southern grotesque within her two short stories, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† and â€Å"Revelation.† These two short stories are very similar to each other, which is why I believe that O’Connor often writes with violent charactersRead MoreFlannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find1171 Words   |  5 Pages When one first begins to read A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, one is assailed by the humorous petty grievances of a mother living under her son’s roof disrespected by her grandchildren and lonely in a house filled with people, clutching at memories of days long passed similar to the Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie. As the story unfolds one begins to see the indifference of Bailey toward his family in general and especially his mother—rightly so, as the ‘old lady’Read MoreFlannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay1071 Words   |  5 PagesFlannery O’Connor had her roots set in Milledgeville, Georgia, which happens to be one of many states that when combined, form what is known as the â€Å"Bible Belt† of America. In respect to this, O’Connor talks about her beliefs: â€Å"This means that for me the meaning of life is centered in our Redemption by Christ and what I see in the world I see in relation to that† (O’Connor 482-483). As O’Connor was a devout Catholic, violence was not a direct preaching, but Joyce Carol Oates writes that â€Å"succumbingRead More The Misfit in Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find466 Words   |  2 PagesThe Misfit in Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find I feel that the Grandmother in the story A Good Man is Hard to Find suffers from psychological conditions. She does not care at all about anyone but herself. I feel that she may even be narcissistic. It is ironic because she would be expected to look out for her family. The Cambridge Dictionary defines narcissism as too much interest in and admiration for your own physical appearance and/or your own abilities It is ironic becauseRead MoreIrony and Foreshadowing in Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find1604 Words   |  7 PagesAs I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and th usly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with everyRead MoreA False Reality in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find537 Words   |  3 Pages In most of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories a number of characters have a hard time seeing an ultimate reality in their life. They tend to have a distorted grasp on reality but not all in the same way. In the story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† the Misfit and the Grandmother are prime examples. The actions and the way of life of the Misfit and Grandmother are mostly due to the fact that they are living in an false reality where they are in their own little world, where in the Misfit’s worldRead More Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay example1357 Words   |  6 Pages Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find A Good Man is Hard to Find presents a masterful portrait of a woman who creates a self and a world through language. At least that is what Mary Jane Shenck thinks of the Flannery OConnor story. Several different people have several different views of this controversial and climatic work of OConnors. In this paper I will take a look at these different views of different situations and characters in this book. First we will take a look atRead MoreLiterary Analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†755 Words   |  4 PagesThe concept of being a â€Å"good† person has painted the picture of how people have handled their lives throughout history. On the same note, this concept has also been the subject of much debate; such is the case in Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†. The protagonist, the unnamed grandmother struggles to find the â€Å"good† in others and herself. O’Conner uses foreshadowing, characterization, and a distinct point of view to make her point. In my interpretation, her point is that only throughRead More Turns and Twists in Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find1230 Words   |  5 PagesTurns and Twists in Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Irony is a useful tool for giving stories unexpected turns and twists. In Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find, irony is used as a very effective literary tool; to guide the story in and out of what we think will happen. OConnor uses irony in this story to contradict statements and situations to expose a truth very much different from what we the reader would think to be true. OConnor use irony in several different