Well, here goes. This story is literary fiction. It is not a "long" short story, nor a happy one, but Flannery O'Conner certainly has something to say here. After reading the story, seeking information about the author and/or the time and setting might help on lock some clues about the author's message. You may also find it's meaning through analysis of the work itself. So, read the story and tell me what it is "about". Avoid plot summary and instead focus on the story behind the story. Why would O'Conner write something like this?
A Good Man is Hard to Find
A Good Man is Hard to Find was definitely a different plot than I had envisioned. Although the story had a sad, and disturbing ending there are many lessons that Flannery O'Conner teaches throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteThe main lesson that stands out to me is at the end of the story when the misfit says, "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." This quotations stands true for most people. There are many scenes in movies or TV shows where a character has a gun pointed to their head, and suddenly has a change of faith. Although the grandmother could have been a very faithful woman, she did not show this throughout the story when she constantly went against what the family wanted to do. The misfit meant by his famous words that if the grandmother had a gun to her head throughout her life that she would have always been a kind and faithful person. I thought that this quote is really interesting because if everyone lived like they were about to die, they would certainly have more faith and compassion.;
The next message that the author was trying to convey was exactly what the title said. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" held true with almost all of the characters in the story. Although the most obvious character would have been the misfit, most of the characters in the story were not a "good man (or woman)." The only "good man" was the man at the diner who gave the gas to the people, but only on accident. He was even called a good man by the grandmother. This theme throughout the story was very important.
Finally, religion is a major theme throughout the story. The misfit says that people do forget about what crime he has committed, but he is still punished. The grandmother says that she thinks the man needs to pray, and that he is not a bad person. The misfit begins to agree with her, but decides that she has to be killed.
Overall, this story has a moral behind it that is greater than the story itself. On the surface it seems like a terrible story, but upon further view there are some great themes behind it.
Kraus,
DeleteI really liked your discussion of the quote about her being a good woman if someone had been there to shoot her everyday. I think you are dead on with your analysis of that. Most people would definitely benefit from living as if they were about to die. I also liked your discussion of the title. You took it in a very literal sense. I took it as literal and figurative. I said that a good man is hard to find within oneself. Just food for thought though. It’s funny thinking about different meanings of the story. For me, religion was the biggest part. For you it was the lesson that comes from that quote. Nice job!
Kraus,
DeleteI also like your discussion on he quote by the Misfit at the very end of the story. I also think that your anaylsis of that quote was very good. It is true that death sort of brings out the best in people, this is because they realize that they end is near. Which then causes them to act better to help make up for all of the sins that they have committed in their lives. Anyways, great job!!
Luke Kraus,
DeleteYou had a really accurate analysis of this story. Your title rant was pretty accurate. You said in your final paragraph that the story was terrible on the surface. Now that I read that I can see where your coming from. I mean I wasn't really hyped about the story myself, it was quite predictable. But the meaning behind it was pretty big. Nice blog.
A Good Man is Hard To Find is definitely an interesting story. I don’t really think that that was I expected from the title, but I am glad that it was something different.
ReplyDeleteI found religion to be a very large factor in the story. The old woman constantly encourages The Misfit to say some prayers. She knows that God can save him, if he just asks. The old woman also seems to have more Christ like actions right before she is about to die. She looks into the face of The Misfit and says "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children !" I think this stems from her belief in God. He claims each and every person, no matter what they have or haven’t done. I think, in the moment right before her death, she is looking upon The Misfit as God seems to look upon people. She tells him that he is a good man, even though he may not know it himself. She urges him to open himself up to the love and goodness that still rests somewhere in his heart. By saying that he is one of her own children, she is saying that she accepts what he has done, but there is a way to change that. She will help him pray and reconnect with Jesus. The old woman quickly transforms into an example of God’s unending love, and what it truly means to live in God’s image.
The title of this story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” has some interesting meanings as well. On the surface of the story it seems like it would mean literally what it says it would mean, but after reading the story thoroughly I think it means something else. I do agree, based on the conversation between the grandmother and the restaurant owner, that they are talking about a good man in the literal sense. I think, however, that the story is also referencing that it is hard for a person to find a good man within themselves. The old woman encourages The Misfit to find the good man that rests within him, but he does not seem to be able to do it. That is because finding a different part of yourself is difficult to find when you have lived a certain way for so long. He lived for a long time with people believing that he was some kind of monster, so when the old woman asked him to find the good man inside of him, he couldn’t do it. I think that that is an important part of this story. Being a good man is harder than it seems, and sometimes finding a good man is truly the harder part of the battle.
I also thought that the scene at the gas station/ restaurant was interesting. Here’s why. While they are there they talk about The Misfit being some horrible murderer. After his encounter with the old woman, however, she sees him in a different light. He is more of a confused man than a blood thirsty killer. He is trying to figure out what he did that got him thrown in jail because it seems that the crime they accuse him of is impossible. Obviously we don’t know if that is true or not, but it seems to be bothering him. He says that he keeps a record of every crime now to make sure it all matches up if they catch him. I think towards the end the old woman starts to feel bad for The Misfit. I also think that in the smallest of ways The Misfit is moved by the compassion that the old woman shows him.
They say that faith can move mountains. Maybe the old woman’s act of faith moved The Misfit, but we will never know. Speculating is half the fun, but I personally like to believe it did.
Megan,
DeleteI totally agree that religion was major component in this story. I really like your interpretation of the grandmother telling the misfit that he was one of her babies. I did not think of that at all, but I can now see that her faith in God caused her to see him as one of her own. I also hope that the grandmother moved the Misfit. It would be a nicer ending on the story, great job!!
Megan,
DeleteI think that religion was a major factor in the story. I thought that the way that you interpretred the grandmother's quote was very interesting. I did not think of it like that,but it makes sense. Finally, I thought that the gas station was interesting as well. Nice blog!
Megan,
DeleteFinding a different part of yourself I difficult once you have lived one way for so long.
I love that line of your blog. It is so true and I think that is why the misfit and the grandmother are such an interesting juxtaposition. The Misfit and the grandmother have both been living their life, never working to change their faults, for a very long time. However, at the end, on the face of death, the grand mother finds within herself the compassion to reach out to the Misfit, while the Misfit, ensured in his safety, does not change. He kills anyway.
It takes something drastic for people to change.
Nice blog!
Well that story was slightly depressing, however it was also very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that I want to discuss is the title, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" after reading this story the tile has many different meanings. The first meaning is the literal meaning, that it is hard to find a good man in our present era. This is evident when the gran,other is talk g to the restaurant owner.They discussed how times have changed and you can't trust anyone. It had never been this way years ago when the grandmother was growing up, back then it seemed that every man was a god man it could be trusted.
However, the title also carries a connotation that every man has good inside of themselves but it is hard to find the good inside of a man. This is evident hand the grandmother is taking to the Misfit. She tells him that she can see that he is a good man and he needs to pray, so that he can find the good inside of himself.
Another thing that stood out to me was the grandmother's actions during the car ride. She picked out the good in every landscape that they passed. She was also shifting through her childhood memories as they were passing certain buildings and plantations that were there during her childhood. It almost seemed like she knew that she was going to die soon and that is why she wanted to go through her favorite memories of her childhood in order to remember them. To me this seemed like a foreshadowing of her eventual death.
Religion is obviously a major theme t the end of the story. The grandmother believes that the Misfit could be saved if he would pray to Jesus and ask for guidance. She believes that God helps us to find the best part of ourselves within ourselves and then helps us to act upon the good. I believe that everyone has good and bad within the themselves, like the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. We just need to act upon the good more than the bad and God helps us with that, which is why we need to pray. God will help us to act upon the good instead of the bad.
Another thing that I found interesting is that the whole family was pretty rude to the grandmother. The children were nasty to her and their parents. Also, their parents didn't do anything about it, they just let them carry on and get whatever they wanted. So I think think that the title isn't just referring to man, instead the title is referring to the entire human population. This is because in the story is was hard to find a good boy, girl and woman as well.
Michaela,
DeleteNice job on the discussion of the kids. They are horrible. I would have slapped them if they would treat me like they did their parents. I also liked your discussion of the title of the story because I took it in much the same way. I also liked your discussion of the grandmother on the car ride. I hadn’t really thought about it that much, but now that you say it I can’t believe I missed it. I also agree that religion is very important. Great job!
DeleteMichaela,
Ooh. I never thought of the title in that way before. The good man is hard to find in all of us, and death brings it about so quickly. I love it. Good interpretation. I also find your analysis of the grandmother to be particularly interesting. You mention the way she picked out the good in every landscape. I suppose I never noticed that. I envisioned her as a self-absorbed chatty, ignorant old woman. But what you say make complete sense. Nice job.
Michaela,
DeleteI enjoyed your blog. I also thought of the title as a literal meaning. I did not notice the other connotation, but I do see it now. I also noticed the way that the grandmother acted in the car ride. I thought that it was interesting the way that you discussed it. Nice blog!!
You should have seen my face when they revealed The Misfit.
ReplyDeleteWell that was....sad.
Anyways...
Flannnery O' Connor certainly did have something to say. It would be easy to write off this short story as being a member of the often scrutinized "horror" genre. It is gruesome in that there is no happy ending, in fact, the main point of the story is made by the Misfit in the closing line "It's no real pleasure in life."
Through my research I found out some things about O'Connor's life. She was deeply religious and her works certainly reflected that. Perhaps the most interesting bit of information I found regarding O' Connor was the fact that her father died when she was young of a disease called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus when she was just fifteen years old. When she was twenty-five years old she was faced with the some diagnosis, given only five years to live. Well, she ended up living for fourteen more years but regardless "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was written just two years after this diagnosis was given. She was on the brink of death, or so she thought, and the grandmother too faced such a predicament. This story is meant to illustrate the change of character for people who are close to death. The kind of people we could be if people truly did live life as thought everyday was their last.
The grandmother is not really likable in anyway, but she is not evil. She is faulty in the ways so many people are. She is selfish and bothersome at times. Ignorant too. In other words, she is entirely human, just like any one of us. However, the grandmother performs an act at the close of the story, the reaching out of her hand to the criminal, that signifies something monumental.
I debated heavily what this signifies. Part of me wants to feel like this act illustrated a change of heart, a way the human mind and soul can instantaneously be transformed in the face of death when the fear of God is most prevalent. Or, was this yet another desperate attempt to save her own life? Does this story really live up to its gruesome name and cynically show the way people will do anything in desperate times?
I like to think the former to be true. Especially considering how many stories there are about people who transform their life when death comes knocking at their door. Those stories had to have originated somewhere right? O' Connor most likely was experiencing such a transformation herself as she battled her illness. Death is a powerful force. What could we all accomplish if we just realized how eminent such a state was?
Ya know what, I like this story. It manages to raise questions that I certainly cannot answer about good and evil. But it does make one think, and that's what all good literature is supposed to do, correct?
Danielle,
DeleteYou wrote a very educated blog. It was very well done. You stated some biographical facts then came to the conclusion of why this story was written, that is, to show that life is appreciated in its last moments. You hit that dead on. You remarked that this is what good literature is supposed to do, even though it was kind of gruesome. Nice blog.
Danielle Healy,
DeleteYour background information about the author definitely makes sense as to why she wrote a story about "Live like we are dying". She was "dying" for fourteen years. That was very helpful! Also, I really like how you interpreted this. I really don't know how I'm going to react in the final moments of my life. Am I living like I'm dying? These are the queries that this short story makes me ponder. Your remarks about the grandma and her possible change of heart definitely made me think. I don't know. I didn't like her, and I thought she was selfish the entire time until she saw the face of death. Then she reached out to the killer as if he were her son. That was weird. It is gruesome, and I agree that it makes you think. Good blog!
I don't know what to think of this story. It was very predictable from the beginning, the final result that is, but the author twisted up the plot a little bit to add some meaning behind it.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of religious symbolism in here. The most significant one was when the grandmother was talking to the Misfit at the end. No surprise there. We all know that the grandmother was the 'nice guy' here, and that she wanted the Misfit to pray and think about Jesus and all. It's when someone realizes that they are being threatened with their life that they get extremely desperate. They do anything they can to try to reverse the situation. Thats what the grandmother was doing. She was trying to convert the criminal on the spot. She kept calling him a good man at heart and that he should turn to God and Jesus and all of that stuff.
There was a quote in the story, near the very end, that I found very significant. "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." The Misfit suggests that if she, and everybody in this case, had been living like she realized her life was almost over, then she would have been a good woman, even though the story suggests that she is a good woman. She tells the children to respect their elders and to respect their home. She talks about how her generation was so much more appreciative of life, and so much more respectful.
Another significant part of the story is the title "A Good Man Is Hard To Find". And this goes back to the restaurant conversation. The grandmother and Red Sammy are talking about the ideal good man and how the Misfit is so terrible. They gossip, or talk about him and all of the awful crimes he had committed. When the grandmother meets the Misfit in person it's kind of a different story. It's a compassionate meeting and she thinks that he can be converted. Maybe this is just the calling of a desperation move, I don't know. But anyways the point is that the grandmother was compassionate with the Misfit and apparently thought differently of him. Like the old saying 'never judge a book by its cover'. This could probably apply to the situation at hand.
So if you made it through all of that 412 words of dull blogging, congratulations. But yep, a Good Man Is Hard To Find was definitely an appropriate title. It had lots of meaning behind it, as does the story.
Matt Bobby,
DeleteI can definitely back up your one statement about the grandma's attempts to convert the serial killer were definitely desperate moves. The question I pose is was the grandma really a good person? Or was she simply trying to convert the man, not for the sake of God, but for the sake of saving her life? I really respect how you related the story to its title. Your explanation is definitely reasonable. I think The Misfit was correct in his quote about if she "was shot at every minute of her life". It is surely debatable if the grandma was a good person or not.
So I am assuming that this is the disturbing story that Mrs. Messineo was talking about? Haha!
ReplyDeleteI think a quote that is very appropriate for this tale is “Live like you are dying.” Cliché! Yes, I know. But this story is all about how in a moment one’s point of view of life or attitude toward life can drastically alter because he or she is faced with death.
The grandma is a hoot in this story. She cracks me up. She also has a selfish side, and she does not have much consideration for anyone else’s feelings. This is depicted throughout the road trip. They are bound for Tennessee because that is where the grandma wants to go, regardless that her son preferred to go to Florida. The family also winds up in a car accident and stranded in a gully, because the grandma wanted to see an old house that was supposedly at the end of the crappy road. Her son was not too keen about this either. Basically it was all about me, me, me for Grandma… until she met The Misfit.
As the serial killer is killing off Grandma’s family one by one, her attitude begins to change. All of a sudden, Jesus and praying comes into the picture, and she repetitively says that The Misfit is “a good man”. These are obviously petty tactics to try to save her life. The murderer is able to see right through her, and he notices this. He eventually ends up killing the grandma. Afterward, he remarks, “She would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” This quotation is very similar to the previous one I mentioned, “Live like you are dying”.
In the final moments of her life, the grandma attempted to be the sweetest old woman in order to bargain for her life. The most noticeable action she performs is when she reaches out to him and says, “Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children.” This is the first encounter in the story that shows Grandma’s love and compassion toward a “son”. She should have respected and loved her actual son her entire life as she cared for The Misfit in the final moments preceding her death. But instead, she allowed her selfish actions to be priorities, and they eventually ended up murdering her entire family, including herself.
What is the moral of this literary fiction? Do not be selfish, and have some consideration for others around you. Live like you are dying every moment of your life. Do not wait for the moment when you are staring death straight in the face.