A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’conner

Amy Clayborn
English 111/Online Summer 2011
Heather Buford
June 21, 2011

The short story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Conner has brought about some interesting views and discussions within my target audience. Many of us found it difficult to read, because of the tragic ending and the way that it was written was a little out of our norm. Even though the southern slang and accents that the writer used in the story added character, it may have taken a second glance to determine what the writer was trying to convey. I know that everyone has taken different meanings from this story, and I am trying to point out that there is no right or wrong meaning. We have all agreed, in one way or another that the story points out morals and religion. In my original paper, I used the thesis there is no gray area in right or wrong and in this analysis I will continue to back that up with what the writing was trying to depict to us. I also will touch on morals and religion to further support my findings and add that morals and ethics do not change people do. Every one of us can find a different part of the story that we can relate to and tie it to our own lives. Whether it is 1950 or 2011 people and time change, but morals should not.
We can all have our own opinions about this story but my purpose is to figure out what author Mary Flannery O’Conner had in mind when she wrote this short story. I want to first take a look at the author and I hope this helps us to see where she is coming from. Her name is Mary Flannery O’Conner. She was born on March 25, 1925 and died at the age of 39. She was a southern writer and her style was considered Southern Gothic. She liked to express her Roman catholic views and her writing took angles of morality and ethics. She graduated from Georgia State College for Women in 1945 with a degree in Social Sciences. She has written 32 short stories, two novels, and a number of reviews and commentaries. In 1951she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus and during this time is when she did most of her writing. She was considered sheltered but her writing reflected a vast knowledge of human behavior.
Mary Flannery O’Conner’s writing style is considered Southern Gothic and relied on regional settings and grotesque characters. To make sure that we all have an understanding of Southern Gothic style I will define it. Southern Gothic is a subgenre of gothic genre unique to American Literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. It relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot. It is unlike its parent genre in that it uses these tools not solely for the sake of suspense, but to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South. This is information I obtained from Wikipedia and it describes her writing perfectly.
The era that O’Conner wrote in was in the 1950’s and World War II had just ended. Soldiers were returning home from torture, killing, death and experiencing PTSD. Society was experiencing hate crimes and unfortunately they are still just as common today. In the 1940’s-1950’s many people had from starvation, bombings, or even massacres. Mary Flannery O’Conner was age twenty-eight when she wrote the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find. She had been through some very traumatic times in our country. She was also experiencing pain and suffering in her own life. She was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. On the discussion board for week 3-4 it came up that it was possible that Mary Flannery O’Conner’s writings were tragic because of the personal pain that she was going through. One of the most horrific crimes in the 1950’s was one of Eddie Gein, who was a murderer and body snatcher. There were several horror films that were inspired by his horrid acts. Mary Flannery O’Conner was just as much a victim to death, murder , and immoral behavior as we are today. Her writings portrayed her version of what was going on around her. In her short story the names were changed but the acts were just mirror image of what was going on in the 1950‘s.
Now that I have provided a brief biography and description of Mary Flannery O’Conner’s writing I feel that we can better understand my thesis. To remind my readers, my thesis is that the author is trying to point out that morals and ethics remain constant and people are the ones that change.
This short story starts off with the Grandmother being very insistent about rerouting the family trip. She tries to persuade her son to change his mind by telling him about Misfit, who was a killer headed in the same direction that they were planning to travel. When the story starts off the very first sign of disrespect was when Bailey never looked up from his newspaper to acknowledged his mother speaking to him. (O’Conner1) In the 1950’s looking someone in the eyes when they were talking to you was a sign of respect. That is still a sign of respect today. I am sure that the author was trying to place a description on each character by setting the mood and allowing that disrespect. To go further into the first page of the story the disrespect continues. The children 's mother didn 't seem to hear her but the eight-year-old boy, John Wesley, a stocky child with glasses, said, "If you don 't want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?" (qtd. O’Conner) I feel that the morals are taught they are just not enforced. As I was growing up I was taught to respect others and have a high standing respect for all adults. When I read this I could just hear my grandmother lecturing and telling me to go pick out switch. The children continue on by tormenting their grandmother. "She wouldn 't stay at home to be queen for a day," June Star said without raising her yellow head. (qtd. O’Conner) "She wouldn 't stay at home for a million bucks," June Star said. "Afraid she 'd miss something. She has to go everywhere we go." (qtd. O’Conner) When the grandmother tries to correct the children not a word is uttered from either parent and they are both present. All right, Miss," the grandmother said. "Just re- member that the next time you want me to curl your hair."
June Star said her hair was naturally curly (qtd. O’Conner) When grandmother corrects the child she is not taken seriously. I feel that the moral values exist but the characters were not meant to use them. It is almost as if the writer is trying to
When grandmother started talking about coming across the path of Misfit the children quickly joined the conversation. Grandmother asked "Yes and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, caught you?" (qtd. O‘Conner) John Wesley replied "I 'd smack his face," (.qtd. O’Conner) Even though Misfit was a bad person a child should of never been having this conversation or fixing his or her mouth to say that they would smack anyone.
The main point I am trying to make is that even though morals are standard they are not always used. The title of the referenced story is “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and it is fitting. I feel that it fits because from the very beginning of the story it was a snow ball effect of disrespect. The son to his mother, the children to their parents and grandmother.

In the end of the story the grandmother tried to introduce divine grace when she was asking Misfit if he prayed. He made several excuses for choices he mad throughout his life. He never morally took responsibility for the wrong he did. Some examples of this are when Misfit stated “Jesus shown everything off balance. It was the same case with Him as me except He hadn’t committed any crime and they could prove I had committed one because they had papers on me.” (qtd. O’Conner) It is as if he is saying that his view of right and wrong does not match the law. I believe that deep down inside he knew that he was wrong, but he tried to compare himself to Jesus and the circle of life. He is still not taking the blame for his acts, he is more less blaming the law for catching him and creating a case against him.
Morals I feel are a given everyone is taught right and wrong from the beginning of life, and it is up to them whether the choose to exercise their morals. I feel that morals are separate from religion in the fact that you do not have to believe in God to know that it is wrong to lie, steal or kill.

Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery_O%27Connor
Free Info For Society. “Articles/Biographies/Criminals/Gein, Ed”. Web. 20 June 2011. http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=84
O’Conner, Flannery. A Good man is hard To Find. England: 1955. 9 June 2011.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Good_Man_Is_Hard_to_Find>. http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~surette/goodman.html

Clayb

Cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery_O%27Connor Free Info For Society. “Articles/Biographies/Criminals/Gein, Ed”. Web. 20 June 2011. http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=84 O’Conner, Flannery. A Good man is hard To Find. England: 1955. 9 June 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Good_Man_Is_Hard_to_Find>. http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~surette/goodman.html Clayb