The main themes in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are
finding grace, prejudice, and family
. Finding Grace: Extraordinary circumstances allow a selfish character like the grandmother to truly understand the meaning of grace.
What is the argument in A Good Man is Hard to Find?
In an essay on “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor herself had argued that
God uses the grandmother to touch The Misfit
, both literally and figuratively. This touch was a moment of grace – an opportunity for The Misfit to transform his life spiritually, if only he would take advantage of the opportunity.
What is the moral of the story A Good Man is Hard to Find?
It is the grandmother’s selfishness that leads to the death of her family. The short story “A good Man is Hard to Find” teaches
us that nothing good come from being selfish
. Being selfish has plenty of consequences. One of them is that when you are selfish you or your loved once suffer.
What is the most important event in A Good Man is Hard to Find?
The main foreshadowed event in this story is the family’s–and
most particularly–the Grandmother’s encounter with the Misfit
, who is mentioned by the Grandmother in the first paragraph of the story. The family’s death is another event foreshadowed by the mention of the Misfit.
What does A Good Man is Hard to Find symbolize?
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a battle between a grandmother
with a rather artificial sense of goodness, and a criminal who symbolizes evil
. The grandmother treats goodness as having good manners, and coming from a family of higher class, but at the end of the story comes to…show more content…
What does the misfit symbolize?
The Misfit is a character of surprising depth. He is first introduced to the readers as a vague fear, one that
represents the possibility of violence in the world
.
How does the misfit view himself?
Because the Misfit has questioned himself and his life so closely, he
reveals a self-awareness that the grandmother lacks
. He knows he isn’t a great man, but he also knows that there are others worse than him. He forms rudimentary philosophies, such as “no pleasure but meanness” and “the crime don’t matter.”
What is the irony in A Good Man Is Hard to Find?
Situational irony occurs when a development in a story is the opposite of what the reader expects. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” this type of irony occurs
when an evil man, The Misfit, causes Bailey’s mother to see herself for what she is, a sinner
.
Why does the grandmother call the misfit one of her babies?
In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the grandmother says that the Misfit is one of her children even though she only has one
son because she’s trying to appeal to his better nature
, while also seeing him for the first time as a fellow human being.
Why does the misfit shoot the grandmother?
The Misfit
kills the grandmother last to make her death more painful
(at least to the reader). The grandmother has to endure listening to the other five members of her family get shot in closer range (even though, in her selfish attitude, she doesn’t seem to care much).
Why does the misfit call himself The Misfit?
Near the end of the story, the Misfit tells the grandmother that he calls himself the Misfit “
because [he] can’t make what all [he] done wrong fit what all [he] gone through in punishment
.” In other words, his punishment has not fit his so-called crime; it is, in a very literal way, a mis-fit.
What is O’Connor saying about a good man in society?
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
is a typical Flannery O’Connor story, which means it presents us with a strange morality — one where integrity is found in immoral people and where hypocrisy and moral corruption seem magnetically attached to outwardly “good” people.
How does Red Sammy respond when the grandmother calls him a good man?
In both conversations the grandmother describes the characters as good men. After a moment’s reflection Red Sammy Butts agrees, “
as if he were struck with this answer
.” He has an excessively high opinion of himself. The grandmother calls The Misfit a good man.
Who is misfit in a good man is hard to find?
The Misfit remains largely a mystery throughout the story. The Grandmother first reads about him in the newspaper—he is
an escaped convict and murderer
, and is thought to be headed to Florida (like the family).
What do the woods represent in a good man is hard to find?
The forest that looms over the ditch where the family’s trapped, “tall and dark and deep” (70), is another image in keeping with the hearse and Toombsboro. The forest is threatening, and
suggests the impending death of the family
. Keep in mind that it is where everyone, except the grandmother, is taken to be shot.
What is the foreshadowing in a good man is hard to find?
They are the
description of the grandmother’s dress, the death of the family, and the conversation between the Misfit and the grandmother
. The grandmother did not want to go to Florida; she ironically dresses in her Sunday best.
