Literary Analysis Essay on 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'

Introduction

'A Good Man is Hard to find' is a short story by O'Connor that exemplifies the idea of 'good' and 'evil.' It is based on a family trip to East Tennessee by a family that turns out tragic. Bailey, at the begin of the story, is set to go to East Tennessee with his family. However, the grandmother is at first reluctant and tries to convince them to go Florida instead. She later joins them to go to Tennessee. She convinces Bailey to make a detour along the way so she can visit a plantation she used to visit as a maiden. It is this detour that unfolds a series of events that lead up to the murder of the whole family as they meet a trio of escaped convicts, one constantly referred to as The Misfit.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Flannery skillfully omits the name of the grandmother throughout the whole book maintaining the ambiguity consistently. She is a major character. In the book, and her actions, attitude, reasoning, and decisions are a source of debate. She presents herself as a lady, appropriately dressed in a skirt outfit, a hat, and white gloves. She is very shifty. At the beginning of the story, she is determined to convince her son Bailey to go to Florida, however, on the next morning, she is up very early and boards the car as the first even getting a chance to sneak in the cat which her son disapproves off.

The grandmother has a very curious perception of what she refers to as good. She first uses the term on Red Sammy at the Barbecue lounge. He is complaining about how untrustworthy people are in current times. The previous day he had been swindled by three men, and he was wondering out loud how he let that happen. The grandmother replies by saying that maybe he was just a good man. By this, she was referring to how easily he had been swindled, that he trusted too easily and was very vulnerable. She uses the terms again while replying to the Misfit after he affirms to her that he would not kill a lady. This is after he has mercilessly murdered the rest of the family, and she is the only one left. She calls him good simply because her moral codes stipulate that ladies ought to be respected, and he identified with that particular code.

The grandmother is selfish, manipulative, dishonest, and very hypocritical. She is quick to judge anyone who does not fit into her moral codes. She gingerly sneaks in the cat, knowing that Bailey would not let her. She is the one who convinces Bailey to take the detour to visit the plantation. It turns out later that she had greatly miscalculated and lands them in death. When in the hands of the escaped convict, she tries to persuade him to let her live, yet she was silent as the rest of the family was murdered. This is utterly selfish for a person who refers to themselves s a lady.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in life, we have different people and different situations. Throughout the story, Flannery tries to bring out these characters in the person that is the grandmother. Characters that we can relate with at different times. It is important to understand that we are humans and we make mistakes and that we need to learn not to see life through rose fields but to see it as it is and move with the change.