An analysis of the character "Grandmother" in A good man is hard to find
The Analysis of the Main Character – the Grandmother
In the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O 'Connor, the grandmother is the central character who grows and changes with the story develops, she is a round and dynamic character. At first, she seems to be an unpleasant, contemptible and selfish old lady who is skeptical about her religion. But in the end, when “her head cleared for an instant,” the grandmother becomes a real believer of God. And she is heading straight to heaven for her final Christ-like act of love the moment before she dies. That is, she moves from spiritual blindness to grace. And that is the method that the author uses to relate her to the theme of the story.
Ⅰ.Grandmother before the moment of grace
First of all, she is selfish and unpleasant. When her family prepares to go on vacation in Florida, she persuades them to go to east Tennessee, where she has relatives. Unable to convince them, she uses the news that a psychopathic killer who calls himself The Misfit is heading toward Florida as an excuse to change her son Bailey’s mind. The grandmother is so self-centered that she just imposes her wish on those people around her.
Also, her vanity and old belief make her an unpleasant character. She always claims to be a lady and thinks much of wealth and social status. When they set out to Florida, she dresses in her best clothes and an ostentatious hat lest no one can recognize her as a refined lady if she dies in an accident along the road. “The grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet.” From her perspective of identity, I can see that she defines people externally, by clothing. And she tells her grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, that “she would have done well
In the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O 'Connor, the grandmother is the central character who grows and changes with the story develops, she is a round and dynamic character. At first, she seems to be an unpleasant, contemptible and selfish old lady who is skeptical about her religion. But in the end, when “her head cleared for an instant,” the grandmother becomes a real believer of God. And she is heading straight to heaven for her final Christ-like act of love the moment before she dies. That is, she moves from spiritual blindness to grace. And that is the method that the author uses to relate her to the theme of the story.
Ⅰ.Grandmother before the moment of grace
First of all, she is selfish and unpleasant. When her family prepares to go on vacation in Florida, she persuades them to go to east Tennessee, where she has relatives. Unable to convince them, she uses the news that a psychopathic killer who calls himself The Misfit is heading toward Florida as an excuse to change her son Bailey’s mind. The grandmother is so self-centered that she just imposes her wish on those people around her.
Also, her vanity and old belief make her an unpleasant character. She always claims to be a lady and thinks much of wealth and social status. When they set out to Florida, she dresses in her best clothes and an ostentatious hat lest no one can recognize her as a refined lady if she dies in an accident along the road. “The grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet.” From her perspective of identity, I can see that she defines people externally, by clothing. And she tells her grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, that “she would have done well
References: 1 A Good Man Is Hard to Find (short story), from Wikipedia 2 SparkNotes: A good man is hard to find, Analysis of Major Characters 3 高恩普的日志，读书笔记-A good man is hard to find，来自人人网 4 蓝色轻雨水印，PPT – A good man is hard to find，来自百度文库