Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man Is Hard To Find (1955).

Surname 8

Shanice Hampton

Saint Leo University

Mary Cross

August 15,2021

Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955)

Introduction

Mary Flannery O’Connor was one of the most influential twentieth-century American writers due to her using strange but fascinating characters, her religious perception, and her exciting plot elements. She was aware that most of her audience did not manifest the same moral perceptions as world views due to her strong ascription Roman Catholic faith. O'Connor was essentially[you don’t need this word, take it out] born on March 25, 1925, in Georgia; she schooled in Milledgeville high school in Georgia when the opportunity to do so was unreachable for most children in the vicinity (Flanagan et al., 64-70).

She majored in social sciences in college; O'Connor explored her passion for writing by editing and writing school publications. In 1947, she was [take out word “was”]attained a master’s degree in the field of writing with six of her literature works acting as her master’s thesis at Lowa State University. She wrote several pieces of literature with her aggressiveness [what does “aggressiveness” mean here?]on the same taking course through the 1950s; "A Good Man is Hard to Find," which was relevant as from 1955, was one of her short story literature works that attracted much attention. O’Connor wrote a few other literary works before her death in 1964 due to infection with lupus (COFER, 95).

O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" tends to be one of her most regarded literature works since it manifests characteristics that define her significantly, the concept of contrasted violent action with carefully and humorously[any sources to credit here?] deployed characters as well as the aspect of emphasis on her faith in Roman Catholic. The prose has attracted significant critics. [next sentence is incomplete, a fragment – attach it to previous sentence] [next sentence is incomplete, a fragment]The way she relates her story with her catholic-based faith as the relevance of God's grace in the lives of ordinary individuals is concerned (O'connor, 59). This O’Connor’s work remarkably tends to be humorous and disturbing. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is essentially the first literature works as her short story collection is concerned and therefore acts as a foundation for all of her successive typical works.

This narrative undeniably proves to be exciting and enjoyable due to the sense of humor as it portrays the family that was assuming[a funny word to use about a vacation – can you think of a better one?] a vacation; O’Connor tends to be unforgiving in this perspective as the characters are implicated as unlikable. Nevertheless, in deploying characters that attract little sympathy from the audience, she has carefully and comprehensively presented a critical foundation for her argument: that everyone deserves the concept of grace, even to those who tend to be undeserving (Correoso-Rodenas, 113-126). O'Connor's appreciation of the concept of violence in this work and the fact that her gender contradicts the same primarily based on the perceptions of the time makes the story very unique; due to this, significant critics from the readers were on the rise.

The author was critically interested in this concept of point of view whereby she has managed to ensure consistency in the same. O’Connor has crafted the story to be narrated in the third person; this implies that none of the relevant characters has been involved in telling the story. For instance, the first sentence of the literature expresses an “objective” character[just say “third person point of view”]; that is, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.” The author here tends to express only one character’s thoughts and emotions to her audience (O'connor, 100-160). Also, we realize that O’Connor tends to implicate the literature work’s point of view through the particular names of the relevant characters. For instance, Bailey's wife, the daughter-in-law to the grandmother, is generally regarded as "the children's mother." In this context, the grandmother regards her just as the mother of her grandchildren and at the same time as the wife of her son; the author appreciates the concept of “authorial distance" by not entering entirely into the thoughts of the grandmother. O'Connor allows the readers to conclude the relevant characters by tending to be "detached" in her presentation.[what you have just said about the “authorial distance” is not well explained—consider a rewrite].

In this short narrative, incidences of foreshadowing are very evident severally; for instance, O'Connor introduces Misfit in the earlier stages of the narrative, whereby he later appears in the execution of the murder of the family. Moreover, the car inhabiting by Misfit and his gang is critically expressed as "a big battered hearse-like automobile," which implied the occurrence of death in the story, which essentially came to pass (Rea, 175). Additionally, as the family was driving across the countryside, they came across a cotton field that manifested five or six graves in its middle, suggesting the approaching death of the six-car occupants.

This concept shows that things tend to appear contrary to the norm; things happen such that the relevant circumstances and the expectations express a sense of conflict. In this O'Connor's work, several incidences of irony are implicated, which tends to be an instrumental aspect in the plot of this story. For instance, the family engages themselves in a summer vacation whereby it is culminated by their murder (Ismail et al., 35). Also, irony has been expressed in the “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in an aspect commonly referred to as ‘dramatic irony’; incidences whereby a reader finds themselves understating the characters wrongly, are evident.

The author has extensively applied this concept to present her views about human conditions. For instance, the grandmother is recorded saying, “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did.” However, she finds herself doing the same upon sidetracking the family on a lonely roadside (Ismail et al., 36). The narrative’s dramatic irony primarily explores the Misfit’s interaction with the family, when the audience comprehends the weightiness of the situation whereas the characters do not; Bailey presents that, “we’re in a terrible predicament! Nobody realizes what this is.”

In O'Connor's story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the author presents a convict who, together with his colleagues, kills a family due to their misunderstanding with the grandmother. Perceiving that an old house is in Georgia instead of Tennessee, the grandmother forces Bailey, her son, to assume a desolate roadside that attracted their deaths (O'connor, 253-260). Bailey is convinced to sidetrack the car after the grandmother, brought along secretly, and leaped to Bailey's shoulders. The grandmother pronounces the name of the murder upon identifying him, which forced the murderer to opt to kill all of them.

In this O’Connor’s story, the Misfit and the grandmother are beneficiaries of grace despite their sins, flaws, and weaknesses. According to Christianity, individuals earn salvation through God’s favor or grace which God avails to all people non-discriminatively. For instance, the grandmother seems to be undeserving grace in this context; she appears to be deceitful and manifests a great deal of moral weakness. On the other hand, Misfit is expressed as an unrepentant murderer (Correoso-Rodenas, 114-121). Besides their unacceptable lifestyles as provided by Christianity, they both receive grace, which implies that individuals who seem undeserving can still be accorded God's salvation.

The other concept that tends to be critical in this story is "goodness”; the grandmother tends to use the same term indiscriminately. For instance, the grandmother applies the same term to Red Sammy upon him making a critical complaint about individuals' untrustworthiness. In this context, the grandmother's perception of a "good man" tends to implicate the concept of poor judgment, gullibility as well as blind faith; this is after she answered Red Sammy of having entrusted strangers in charging their gasoline based on their goodness (Rea, 175).

The arguments prove to be critical and instrumental in presenting the message that O’Connor wanted to implicate. The provisions about the Misfit and the grandmother effectively express grace; it is unmerited favor from God whereby from the stories surrounding these characters' lives, we understand the whole aspect of grace comprehensively as desired by the author. For instance, the extremity of Misfit's sins and flaws could not hinder him from deserving of grace; hence, the whole incidence is a compelling illustration of the availability of God’s grace to everyone irrespective of their flaws (Rea, 179-200). Also, the concept of a ‘good man’ is expressed clearly; the argument that grandmother and Red Sammy have tends to implicate being hard to get a good man as the story's title provides. The disapproval of the grandmother’s perception of trusting all men as good critically agrees with the author’s message.

O'Connor's approach is primarily theological in this story, whereby she has presented her concepts less straightforwardly. This allows the readers to extract the conclusions on their own based on the evident incidences. The author tends to be less conclusive but presents powerful and effective illustrations that prove to be critical in achieving the desired purpose (Correoso-Rodenas, 117-124). O’Connor also uniquely and strategically deploys the provisions of tone in presenting the said arguments. She engages her characters with a powerful sense of detachment whereby she prevents the readers from sympathetic feelings to the characters.

O’Connor has presented her characters with all their oddities and faults giving the readers the chance to judge them honestly. For instance, the Misfit’s and grandmother’s characteristics are presented with no filtration as the concept of their faultiness and the ultimate non-discriminative provided grace is concerned. The aspect of seriousness as Red Sammy confronted the grandmother on why she had entrusted their gasoline to strangers is being implicated,[you use this word too often in this paper – what would be a good synonym?] which critically drives the point relevant in the story’s title (O'connor, 100-123).

O'Connor uses several techniques in composing this story; these techniques happen to be critical pillars that have contributed to the awesomeness of this literature. For instance, the use of symbolism in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" has enabled the author to present many complicated ideas more simply and comprehensively (Ismail et al., 35). Furthermore, the concepts of symbols in this story illustrate more meaningful things that have enabled the author to communicate points that would not have been conveyed in any other way effectively. For instance, O'Connor speaks of the old house that the grandmother desired to visit; in essence, this is symbolism that implied the grandmother's desire to live an old life that she regarded as better and more appealing than the current one then. In this perspective, the author presented a more comprehensive concept using a more straightforward but strategic way.

The other technique that O’Connor embraces significantly and proves to be critical is the aspect of tone. The choice of words and actions she has made have set the story apart as a reputable piece of literature. In this story, the author has incorporated tones of irony, humor, seriousness, and detachment. The story manifests different aspects of tones as the story progresses, which critically depends on the flow of the happenings. The structure of this story falls into two major categories based on the tone. The first section, which ends at the car accident, is primarily characterized by humor and light (Rea, 170-174). In contrast, the other section tends to be dark, serious with cases of symbolism and irony being evident. These, amongst other techniques, set "A Good Man is Hard to Find" as one of the essential short stories in the world of literature.

Conclusion

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" is the first and one of the most significant short story kinds of literary works of Mary Flannery O’Connor, released in 1955. The author composed the story's concepts based on the Roman Catholic faith, which she was[take out word “was”] ascribed to strongly. The story’s plot essentially tends to be unique due to her use of interesting and strange characters, the concept of violence in her plot elements, engaging tone, and a religious worldview. The story primarily explores the perspective of the grandmother; however, it assumes a third-party narrator. Some of the critical techniques that have enhanced the story include a unique tone, symbolism, and irony. The concept of ‘goodness of a man’ and God’s grace are implicated in the story through several incidences.

Works cited

COFER, JORDAN. "The Trouble with “Innerleckchuls”: Flannery O’Connor, Anti-Intellectualism, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop." Reconsidering Flannery O'Connor (2020): 95.

Correoso-Rodenas, José Manuel. "The (Literary) Caricatures of Flannery O’Connor’s Short Fiction 1." Painting Words. Routledge, 2020. 113-128.

Flanagan, Christine, and Jessica McQuain. "" No Light Task to Advise a Genius": The Mentorship of Caroline Gordon and Flannery O'Connor." Flannery O'Connor Review 17 (2019): 64-216.

Ismail, Sezen, and North Macedonia. "HUMOR AND GROTESQUE IN FLANNERY O’CONNOR’S A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATION & PHILOLOGY (2020): 35.

O'connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find: And Other Stories. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1955.

Rea, Robert. "Flannery O'Connor's Murderous Imagination: Southern Ladyhood in" A Good Man Is Hard to Find"." Southwest Review 102.2 (2017): 168-263.