english 200

Response Paper to “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

William “B” Secrist

20 November 2016

Responsive Essay on “A Good Man

If I had to choose the best short story out of all the ones I have read this week I would have to say “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” was the absolute best one. Typically, I am not much of a reader, but Flannery O’Connor’s “grim humor” is quite fascinating to me (224). Having read “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” before, I was able to closely analyze the details in this short story as I read. Compared to the other short stories, O’Connor’s strategic use of foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism appealed to my interests the most. 

Flannery O’Connor’s use of foreshadowing in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is subtle and entertaining to me as a reader. In fact, there are quite a few examples of foreshadowing throughout the story. The first example is when the grandmother, a round character, is discussing the Misfit in the beginning of the story. She tells her son Bailey, who is planning a family trip to Florida, that the Misfit has escaped a prison and is on the loose, headed towards Florida (224). The grandmother would rather go to Tennessee rather than Florida and uses this escaped prisoner as an excuse not to take that route. Ultimately, the family does start their trip towards Florida. Reading this, we now know the setting is somewhere on a route to Florida. Another example of foreshadowing O’Connor uses is when the narrator describes how the grandmother is dressed. The grandmother is dressed very nicely and places a significant article of clothing near her neckline. This is placed here so those people that “see her dead on the highway will know at once she is a lady, in case of an accident” (225). As we read along, we discover that the grandmother is eventually killed on the side of the roadway. The last example of foreshadowing I find gravely interesting is when the family passes “five or six graves” during their travel (225). This is signifying the fate of the six family members; the grandmother, her son, his wife, and their three children (six). I may not be much of a reader, but O’Connor’s stony humor is part of what makes this the best short story I have read this week. 

What I find evermore amusing in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is the irony that O’Connor uses. In the beginning of the story, while trying to convince Bailey to take her route instead of his, the grandmother says she would not lead her family towards the path of a criminal (224). Even though they took her sons route, she ultimately led them astray where they ended up killed by that particular criminal.  Additionally, the grandmother told a false story about an old house that had a hidden panel in it and her grandchildren wanted so badly to see it. The children pleaded to their father, Bailey, who ironically gave in by saying that was the “one and only time they would stop for something like this” (227). Little did he know, that would literally be the only time, because they were killed before they ever made it to the falsely depicted house. Another example of irony was after they crashed the little girl said “nobody was killed” in the accident (228). Eventually, they were all killed following the accident. 

One thing I struggle with in literature is identifying the symbolism that authors sometimes use. However, O’Connor clearly and frequently used the sun and clear sky as a state of mind. When the family encounters the Misfit, the sky is clear but you could not see the sun nor the clouds (229). This represents the void and emptiness of the grandmothers thoughts while she is in trouble. Furthermore, when the grandmother is killed the sky is still empty (231). In this instance, the sky seems to indicate a state of peace rather than emptiness. The characters and narrator mention the sky numerous times in the short story and I believe this is why I was able to pick up on the symbolism used here. 

After reading and inspecting “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, I have concluded that this short story is, truly, a work of art. The social and cultural insinuations throughout the story make it a very intricate illustration of worldly experiences. In my opinion, this story by Flannery O’Connor was worth the read and is definitely the best compared to the few others.

References

Kirszner, L. G. (2012). Lit. Belmont, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning