"A Good Man is Hard to Find"
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
First, what are your reactions to Coleridge's poems Frost at Midnight & Kubla Khan ? What reactions do they invoke in you? Next, what is different about the poems? If you had to do a side by side comparison or make a Venn diagram of them, what would you include in it? After posting your initial thoughts, return to the blog to respond to your classmates.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout reading, I contemplated the point of the story and the main idea it encompasses, and I settled on the reiderance of a "good man" as being a main factor. I gathered from reading that the principles and morals of a person are the center focus of the plot and can be shown through all of the characters. For example, when the family stops at Red Sam's restaurant, he and his wife explain to the grandmother that they don't trust anyone due to the fact that "a good man is hard to find." The grandmother, throughout the story, also complained multiple times about how society and people had changed from how she used to remember to present day; she comments on how people weren't nice like they used to be. With those characters, a common theme in beliefs is shown; however, when it comes to The Misfit, the idea changes as he states his beliefs about the prison system and religion. He differs from the rest of the characters in his ideologies and it shows how different people believe differently in regards of acceptable ways of conduct. From my understanding, the story was about defining what it meant to be a "good man" as merely being personal, as a moral code is something that has many meanings to it depending on a person's experiences. I could be completely wrong but it was a good read and left me heavily contemplating the message.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the main focus of the short story was the affect each character has on the grandmother's idea of what a "good man" truly means. I think that when the grandmother says Red Sammy is a good man it changes the definition. As he tells her the story of allowing two men to steal from him, it reveals the gullible side of his character. She refers to Red Sammy as a good man for trying to see the best in others, but it modifies the definition of a good man to have poor judgement of others. Moreover, the grandmother does not have an exact definition of a good man. She just believes that anyone whose values line up with her own is a good man. Before the Misfit kills her, she applies the term to him because he will not shoot a lady. However, her idea of a moral code and a good man is proved wrong once he kills her.
DeleteAs far as I can tell, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about people’s misinterpretations of what it means to be good. Throughout the story, the grandmother calls many people good people. She believes herself to be a good person, calling herself a lady. However, throughout the story she demonstrates that she is judgmental and deceptive. She always talks about how, in her days, things were better and people were nicer. She probably thought that things were nicer because more people’s ideas aligned with hers. The change in how people act could, in some way, relate to the civil rights movement, since the grandmother though that “a Negro child standing in the door of a shack” would make a good picture. She might believe this because she believes that this is how things should be. She shows that she is deceptive by telling the children that there was a secret panel in the house that she wanted to go see, causing them to annoy Bailey into going to the house. These things suggest she isn’t a good person like she thinks she is. She calls Red Sammy a good man because he seems to share beliefs with her. She also calls the Misfit a good man because he doesn’t seem to have “common blood” and because she believes that he wouldn’t shoot a lady (Flannery). Even after him and his henchmen kill her family she continues to insist that he is a good man. Towards the end of the story she tries to pray but is unable to and it instead seems as if she is cursing, further suggesting that she isn’t good and is unworthy of grace. The Misfit also has misconceptions of good. He doesn’t consider himself a bad man because he doesn’t remember what he did that was wrong. Because of this, he seems to believe that he was punished for no reason. He suggests that part of the reason that he kills people is because, in the end, he wants to prove that, like Jesus, his crimes didn’t match his punishments and he wasn’t treated right. This comparison to Jesus suggests that he believes himself to be a deliverer of grace. He doesn’t believe that his murders are wrong because he thinks that, if Jesus did everything that he said, then people should follow him into death; and if he didn’t, then they have the right to rebel and treat others cruelly by killing them. Either way, he believes that he is doing good by killing others. It is implied that he only considers others good when they are dead. When the grandmother touches him, her touch is compared to a snake bite. Snakes are associated with Satan, so this suggests that he considers her to be sinful while she is alive. The Misfit only considers the grandmother a good woman after she’s dead, stating that “[s]he would have been a good woman… if [there] had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (Flannery). This suggests that she only became good in death.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who was extremely confused by the Misfit's monologue about Jesus, I appreciate your interpretation. Though sick and twisted, the Misfit almost makes a little bit of sense. If God does exists and grants all believers access to heaven, then why must a believer fear death? The answer, of course, is because of the relationships we'd like to maintain on Earth while we live and also a considerable fear of pain that may accompany death, but I digress. I disagree with your stance on the Misfit "only consider[ing] others good when they are dead;" rather, I interpreted his statement as implying that the fear of death inspires people to appeal to their own humanity and the humanity of others (in a purely selfish way, as they are attempting to escape death, but again, I digress). I didn't notice the diction you mentioned about the snake bite-- that was a good catch. Overall, this is a very thorough analysis and you encompassed the story very well.
DeleteThis story was interesting to say the least. One thing that really stood out to me was the use of the word "good." What does is really mean to be good? In the story, the grandmother refers to Red Sammy as a "good man" because he gave free gas to someone; however, he spoke down to her wife and treated her poorly. The grandmother was blind to this because she was used to that type of treatment from her son, Bailey. He treated her like dirt, but she still loved him and thought of him as a "good man." Today, people would never categorize him as anything close to "good." Additionally, the grandmother saw the misfit as a "good man," blind to the fact that he is a criminal. After the accident, while sitting in front of the misfit, the grandmother still looked at him as "good" even though she just heard the gunshots that most likely killed her son and grandson. Part of her wants to believe that he wouldn't shoot a lady but that was proven false after her granddaughter and the child's mother were taken into the woods and shot. At this point, the grandmother had no hope; the only thing she was holding onto was the belief that he was a "good man" underneath the criminal. In my eyes, she is nieve and that costed her her life.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your questioning of the word 'good.' I think the author may have used that word over and over again in different contexts to show how different people's beliefs and viewpoints affect their understanding of basic ideas, including what makes a 'good' man. As for your second point, I agree that the grandmother caused her own death; however, I think it may have been more stubborn refusal to admit she was wrong about the misfit than naivety. When her son and grandson were shot, she called out for bailey hoping he was still alive. Then when she called out for him again after the girls were shot, it showed that she was in outright denial of the situation, so I think that she was in the same sort of denial state in the situation with the misfit, preventing her from accepting the truth.
DeleteThe grandmother in this story struck me as naive. Throughout the story, she elevates herself to a higher moral status than her family. I feel that she is very opinionated with her conscience as a guiding force. In the beginning of the story, she wears a hat and very ladylike clothing. The reason behind this is for others to know she was a lady incase of an “accident” that causes her to be “dead on the highway.” I do not leave my house in a specific outfit thinking that it will be what I die in, and I believe that this is part of her controlling personality. She repeatedly confuses the true meaning of a “good man,” and the hat represents this confusion. If she was dead on the highway, this would mean that her family in the car would be dead as well, which does not concern her. As a hypocrite, the grandmother tells her son Bailey that her conscience would not allow her to take the children anywhere near the Misfit; however, it is her fault they run into him later on. When the car accident occurs, the hat’s brim falls apart like her morals; and the moment she drops the hat her selfish conceptions of the world end. After she discovers compassion and understanding for others, the Misfit shoots her. It took a tragic event for the grandmother to realize the emotions she did not portray before she met the Misfit.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about the hat the way you did, but I completely agree. The idea of her morals falling apart just like the hat makes sense. She is only worried about her own life and that is proven when she begs for her life as her whole family is being shot in the woods. She doesn't beg for their lives and she doesn't try to stop them from going into the woods because then she might get shot. Face to face with death, she neglects her family and her selfishness is what causes her downfall.
DeleteLike others have said, I see the grandmother as naive. She is oblivious to the horrors of the world and claims that those around her are below her due to their disrespectful attitudes. In the hands of a murderer, she focuses on herself, rather than her family getting brutally murdered in the background. The death of her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren are irrelevant as it does not directly affect her own personal results. As seen in the title, the grandmother wholeheartedly believes that "a good man is hard to find". At death's doorstep, face to face with the Misfit, she pleas that he, in fact, is a good man deep down. She points out that, with God's light, he will no longer be corrupted and broken. Her naive perception of morality and reality ultimately cause her death. In addition, she only felt compassion for the Misfit due to the fact that her life was in her hands, sadly. In my eyes, the purpose of the story seems to be that morals are strictly personal. Only one can decide what makes a "good man" and what does not. Also...possibly that wicked people have and always will exist? Hm. I may be overthinking it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your first point of the grandmother being naive. She is always much more concerned about herself and does not really begin to think of her family being murdered behind her one by one. She only focuses on saving the 'soul' of the Misfit in hoping that he will have a change of heart and spare her. I also agree that she seems to change the definition of good on her own needs. Red Sammy is a good man for allowing men to charge gas for their vehicle, an admittedly good deed, yet she also believes the Misfit is a good man simply based off her need for her to survive.
Delete"A Good Man is Hard to Find" shows how different people's morals affect their actions. The grandmother holds the old-fashioned ideas and morals of the past. If a man is born without "common blood" and acts civilized to other 'good' men, then she would consider them to be good men, trusting them wholeheartedly. She showed this through ignoring the young black boy's obvious plights, simply thinking of him as part of the background, wanting to take a picture; commending Red Sam's trusting nature whilst completely disregarding his laziness, rudeness, and readiness to blame others for his problems; and clinging to the idea that the misfit is good even while all common-sense dictates that he is not. The misfit, on the other hand, possesses a more questioning personality, rejecting most of the long held beliefs that the grandmother clings to. He feels he was wrongfully imprisoned, so seeking to balance the scales, he comitts crimes and kills people. He realizes that he is not a good person but understands that there are worse people in the world. The misfit's goal is simply to put everything in order because he is so hopelessly confused as shown by him saying the only pleasure is meaness to the grandmother, then right after that he states there is no real pleasure to one of his partners.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with your analysis of the grandmother and Misfit, and find it really important to the story. Ultimately, each of their morals are what landed them in their respective positions. If the grandmother had not been so rooted in her ways of appreciating the good and finer things in the world, she may not have deceived her son into driving onto that beaten road. If the Misfit had not grown up with a skewed sense of right versus wrong, he may not have made the decision to kill the family before him. It's really likely a long chain of events but moral is still a major factor. Each of them holds an idea of God and his power but even then the two are not on the same page.
DeleteI was not at all prepared for this story. The title of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" held no negative connotation that warned readers about the dramatic and sad end of the grandmother's family. As the story begins, the mannerisms of Bailey, the son of the main character, suggested that the story might be about a man changing his ways. Bailey certainly is not a good man, according to the grandmother, as he ignores her wishes about the family trip. He has room for growth. However, the family's stop at a small diner during their car trip focused the reader's attention on the grandmother's definition of a good man. Discussing "better times" with the owner of the diner, the grandmother does not specify what makes a man good, but calls Red Sammy a good man for trusting two boys to pay him back for gas. Despite the title of "good man" in the eyes of the grandmother, Red Sammy is rude to his wife and has an unsightly appearance that suggests he does not take care of himself. Why would the grandmother classify him as a good man? The reader is further confused upon the appearance of "the Misfit," a dirty, murderous man who happens to find the family after the car is wrecked. The grandmother's insane suggestions of the Misfit as a good man, not of common blood, who only needs to pray suggest that a man can be classified as good if he comes from money or if he is godly. Of course, the Misfit is not a good man, and the entire family is murdered, but the grandmother's hopes of finding a good man suggest that it is not a good idea to look for traits in others that cannot be seen in one's self. The grandmother looked for a man who was honorable and good while she was neither. Her mannerisms suggested that she was merely stuck-up and self-centered. The grandmother's selfishness cost the entire family their lives but provided a wise warning to readers. Focusing on how others can be better rather than ourselves is only going to lead to trouble.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even take Bailey into consideration in my analysis, but I agree with your observations of him. I think that she might have classified others as "good" when their beliefs matched her own which is why she liked Red Sammy. I think that she hoped the Misfit shared her beliefs on not shooting a lady which is why she classified him as good. I agree with the observation about her believing that he's good because he's not of common blood. I didn't think about the theme too much, but I agree with the theme that you found.
DeleteI'm not quite sure what to make of "A Good Man is Hard to Find." I believe that it is a commentary on the grandmother's hypocrisy and superficiality. Throughout the text, she comments on the picturesque qualities of the sights they pass on the car ride, such as the young African boy in the doorway and the rolling hills they pass by. When challenged by her grandson about the value of the state, she dismisses his comment about the poor quality of its residents by citing a time wherein "children were more respectful of their native states." Regardless of the beauty of the land, one would hope that being surrounded by good people is the priority when determining whether or not a place is one of merit.
ReplyDeleteThis is further exemplified after the car crash. Instead of making sure everyone around her is okay, the grandmother is preoccupied with the desire to keep her mistake hidden from her family so her son wouldn't be mad at her. To perpetuate this, she claims a false injury. This is extremely selfish, especially in a situation where an infant, two children, and two other adults were caught in a perilous predicament. Any one of them could've sustained serious injuries from the car crash, but the grandmother's internal narrative makes no mention of that possibility. Furthermore, when confronting the Misfit, the grandmother relies on superficial observations to summon sympathy for her attacker and elicit sympathy from him. Despite his monologue about his past, the grandmother refuses to take into account the Misfit's trauma and instead relies on insisting that his outer appearance suggests an innately good interior. She sounds like a broken record when juxtaposed with the Misfit's introspection. This leads to the Misfit's final observation that the grandmother would've been "a good woman" if she were always facing her death, because at least in that moment, she was trying to find the good in him, however superficial it may be.
I totally see where you're coming from and actually never really looked at the story in such a light. The grandmother was more embarrassed that she made a mistake and obsessed over said slip up. She would rather draw attention to something else, such as a fake injury, to prevent even more embarrassment. You have somehow made me hate her as a character even more than I already did. It completely irritated me that she would try so hard to get the smallest amount of sympathy for herself from a murder, rather than her family - it shows her horrid and selfish ways. You hit the nail on the head and I agree with the arguments you have made.
Delete"A Good Man is Hard to Find" seems like it contains a battle between good and evil. Considering the end of the story, evil obviously wins; however, I interpreted the grandmother's pleas as a moral figure that had a slight effect on the Misfit. I understand that it's an obvious plea for life while the grandmother's family dies one by one in the woods, yet I can't help but think about the struggle for dominant moral forces. The end of the story was foreshadowed when the grandmother talked about dressing up so she can look like a lady if she dies in a fatal accident.
ReplyDeleteI see everything that happened in the plot as the grandmother's fault because her cat caused the accident and recognizing the Misfit led to everyone dying. One interesting thing was that the Misfit thought to take his victims' clothes since some criminals are not very good at hiding themselves. Intelligent criminals always make for a good story whether fiction or nonfiction.
I agree with the last part of your paragraph that it was the grandmother's fault. It seemed to me that she talked a lot about being a good person and how those are hard to find these days; however, she herself had moments of going against her moral code. An instance such as bringing the cat, to me, showed that she knew her son wouldn't want the cat to be there but she brought it anyway, hiding it in the process, showed that even she was a lier. Another thing, I thought the story was similar to the battle between good and evil, as you said, but I had a bit of a twist on my idea; I can see where you're coming from though.
DeleteThe short story in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” seems to be an instrument through which the author is able to express her own views. The main conflict seems to come within the form of the grandmother and the changing world around her. She believes herself to be above the other members of her family and their desires. She dresses and acts in a way that she perceives to be like a ‘lady’. This is essentially saying a lot but not really doing much helpful or useful on the trip. When the grandmother recounts a story of the story of a suitor from her youth, she remarks that she would have done better to marry him as he died rich as he “had bought Coca- Cola stock when it first came out”; this can be seen as a subtle hint that she lives with regret for not marrying into wealth rather than the life she has led. The grandmother is concerned with appearances above all else and judges whether one is ‘good’ in her eyes if their appearance is pleasant. When the serial killer known as “The Misfit” is encountered after the family has had a car accident, the grandmother recognizes the killer which he admits to being a serious mistake on her part. Had the woman not recognized the man, her family may have been saved but her own arrogance is ultimately what kills them.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story, what struck me the most was how believable I felt the characters were portrayed. Without a doubt I can relate members of the family to that of my own, especially the grandmother. As older people often are, the grandmother thoughout the story is stuck in her certain ways of speaking without thinking, not acknowledging how it might affect something or someone. Personally, I can recount countless times where a grandparent of mine spoke with no real consideration. The same goes with not admitting to mistakes or being upset when things fail to go quite their way. Reminders even come down to the strong sense of religion and beleiving that people can be good, regardless of past circumstances. All of this combined just reminded me so much of my own grandma and, frankly, it’s all I could think about when reading this. In my eyes it made the story more enthralling and nerve-racking. This doesn’t feel super important to the story but it stood out to me a lot.
ReplyDeleteAs many others have already touched on, there’s a major point in recognizing how different morals and interpretations can affect a person or outcome. The grandmother views those with similar ideas to her own to be good men, even trying to convince herself that the Misfit may be good in not shooting a lady. Her method of labeling others paired with making sure to have her way makes her seem self-indugled. Despite the character portrayal, I still consider her a loving grandmother who just isn’t fully considering her actions. Had she known what was to ensure, no way would she have acted the way she did before and even directly following the accident. As an old women she is just stuck in her ways.
I agree with your analysis. That's one thing I did notice throughout the story was that O'Connor wrote the characters as if we knew them ourselves. I mean that as in they almost felt like modern characters with their relatable bickering and sayings. Your second point also adds a lot to discussion by bringing up that old ways die hard. That idea is especially evident in how she treats the little kid in the shack; while this was written in a time were racism was still rampant, younger generations tend to be more accepting and you could kind of see that in how they didn't add too much to the grandmother's commentary.
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