Detailed Analysis of Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'

This essay offers a detailed analysis of Flannery O'Connor's short story, 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.' It examines the key characters, including the Misfit and the Grandmother, and explores the central themes of good versus evil, the impact of societal perceptions, and the search for meaning and grace. The analysis delves into the Misfit's background, his loss of faith, and his transformation into a criminal due to societal rejection. It also discusses the Grandmother's selfishness and her attempts to manipulate situations for her own benefit. Furthermore, the essay explores the story's symbolism and literary techniques, providing a comprehensive understanding of O'Connor's narrative and the complexities of human nature. This assignment is available on Desklib, a platform that offers study resources.

Running head: LITERATURE AND COMPREHENSION
LITERATURE AND COMPREHENSION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LITERATURE AND COMPREHENSION
A "Good man is hard to find" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor, which was
published in the year 1953. The story tells about a family's vacation trip to Florida that ended
up to be a real-life journey within the lives of the family. The story allows the reader to
understand the definition of a good man by themselves. Misfit, as stated in the story, is a
murderer who escaped prison along with a few other fellow escapees. He has been murdering
people after escaping the prison along with the other escapees on being recognized. He was
sent to the penitentiary for no reason. He was unaware of the reasons for being jailed. He kept
wondering about his life and wondering about the divine grace. Apparently, Misfit was put in
jail for killing his father. However, Misfit claimed that it was false. His father died in
epidemic flu and was buried in the Mount Hopewell Baptist churchyard. He even claimed the
police to check if he was wrong. This states that Misfit was being framed. This made him
lose faith in humanity and he transformed into evil from a good man. When he met the
Grandmother (Bailey's mother), he stated that his parents were the finest people in the world
and his father's heart was as pure as gold, which states that he missed his parents a lot and
belonged to the finest class himself. But society did not give him a chance to be a good
person like his parents. He started to compare himself with Jesus, who never committed
crimes. He told that the difference between him and Jesus was that the society had papers in
him just to prove him a cold-blooded murder, although those papers were never been shown
to him. He said to the grandmother in a dreamy voice he stated that he was buried alive. The
"Good Man" in him was buried alive and he has turned into evil. He is also furious about the
fact that one is punished a heap whereas the others are not punished at all. In the story, he
kills the grandmother at the last. The grandmother was showing him kindness even when he
killed Bailey and the entire family. He told me that the grandmother would have been good if
there had been someone there to shoot her every minute of her life. Misfit correctly guessed
the selfish nature of the grandmother. He understood that the Grandmother was only
interested in her choices and interests above others. While the rest of her family members

2LITERATURE AND COMPREHENSION
died, even then she tried to console Misfit because she wanted to save her life and hence
Misfit made such a comment. The reason Misfit became a criminal was that society never
accepted him as a Good Man and after escaping it was also impossible to prove. So he simply
killed everyone who recognized him and stated that there is no real pleasure in life. Thus
according to him, even though a person wants to be “Good”, society and situation will never
allow people to remain “Good” forever and hence “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.