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Analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on May 25, 2021

Frequently anthologized, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” exemplifies Flannery O’Connor’s southern religious grounding. The story depicts the impact of Christ on the lives of two seemingly disparate characters. One is a grandmother joining her son’s family on a trip to Florida. Accompanied by a silent daughter-in-law, a baby, two unpleasant children, and her smuggled cat, she wheedles the son into making a detour to see a plantation that she remembers from an earlier time.

Moments of recognition and connection multiply as the seemingly foreordained meeting of the grandmother and the killer she has read about in the paper takes place. She upsets the basket in which she has hidden her cat; the cat lands on her son’s neck, causing an accident. Soon three men appear on the dirt road, and the grandmother recognizes one of them as the notorious killer the Misfit.

Flannery O’Connor/National Catholic Register

O’Connor weaves the notion of punishment and Christian love into the conversation between the Misfit and the grandmother while the grandmother’s family is being murdered. Referring to the similarity that he shares with Christ, the Misfit declares that “Jesus thrown everything off balance” (27), but he admits that unlike Christ, he must have committed a crime because there were papers to prove it. When the grandmother touches his shoulder because she sees him as one of her own children, she demonstrates a Christian love that causes him to shoot her.

This story typifies O’Connor’s mingling of comedy, goodness, banality, and violence in her vision of a world that, however imperfect, most readers inevitably recognize as part of their own. O’Connor views the world as a place where benevolence and good intentions conflict with perversity and evil, and her protagonists frequently learn too late that their lives can crumble in an instant when confronted by the very real powers of darkness.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Kessler, Edward. Flannery O’Connor and the Language of Apocalypse. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1986. Orvell, Miles. Flannery O’Connor: An Introduction. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1991

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A Summary and Analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ is one of the best-known short stories by Flannery O’Connor (1925-64), who produced a string of powerful stories during her short life. First published in the collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find in 1955, the story is about an American family who run into an escaped murderer at a plantation.

Before we offer an analysis of some of the key details of the story, here’s a brief summary of its plot.

Plot summary

The story is about a grandmother, her son named Bailey, Bailey’s wife, and the couple’s three children, named June Star, John Wesley, and simply ‘the baby’. The family are going on holiday to Florida. At the beginning of the story, the grandmother points out to her son that a notorious criminal, known as the Misfit, is on the loose and she doesn’t think they should be going on vacation to Florida when the Misfit is rumoured to be heading there.

On their way to their destination, the grandmother tells the children a story of how she was courted by a wealthy man who used to leave her a watermelon every day with his initials, E. A. T., inscribed in it. However, one day a black boy saw the word ‘EAT’ on the watermelon and ate it. This story amuses the children.

The family then stop off for lunch a barbecue diner, The Tower, run by a man named Red Sammy, who talks to the grandmother about the Misfit. It is Red Sammy who remarks, ‘A good man is hard to find’, in reference to the dangerous convict on the loose.

When the family get back on the road, the grandmother persuades her son to take a detour to a plantation she remembers from her youth. She embellishes the story by inventing details, such as the idea that a secret panel concealed the family silver in the house.

However, she has misremembered where the plantation is: Tennessee, rather than Georgia (where the family are). When the grandmother’s cat escapes from his basket and frightens Bailey, he crashes the car into a ditch.

Another car approaches them. It contains three men, one of whom the grandmother recognises as the notorious Misfit. He seems familiar to her, as though she has known him for years.

When she blurts out that she recognises him, the Misfit tells them that it would have been better if she hadn’t recognised him. He talks to the grandmother while his two accomplices lead Bailey into the woods and shoot him. They then do the same with Bailey’s wife and the children. The grandmother tries to flatter the Misfit into sparing her life, telling him that she knows he’s a good man, but to no avail.

The story ends with the grandmother addressing the Misfit as one of her own ‘babies’ or ‘children’; the Misfit shoots her dead. The Misfit has the final word, observing that the grandmother would have been a good woman if she had had someone there ‘to shoot her every minute of her life.’

The character of the grandmother is central to the dramatic power of ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’. The first two words of the story are ‘The grandmother’; the story begins with her warning her son about the escaped Misfit and ends with her being shot dead by the Misfit; the story opens with the third-person narrator’s reference to Bailey as the grandmother’s ‘only boy’ but ends with her addressing the Misfit as one of her ‘own children’.

And although ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ is narrated by an impersonal third-person narrator, in terms of the story’s focalisation we remain close to the grandmother’s perspective on events, seeing things through her eyes and gaining access to her thoughts and feelings as the story approaches its shocking and dramatic climax.

The skill of O’Connor’s writing lies in her ability to shuttle rapidly between comedic moments poking gentle fun at the grandmother and darker plot developments. The point is not that the shift between these two very different modes seems awkward or out of place, but that O’Connor lends the already shocking moments at the end of the story an even more alarming element, through juxtaposing them with lighter comic interludes.

A central theme of O’Connor’s story is, as the title makes clear, goodness: note how the grandmother and Red Sammy’s repeated references to a ‘good man’ meet their match in the Misfit’s statement at the end of the story that the grandmother would have been a ‘good woman’ if someone had been there to (threaten to) shoot her at all times.

This statement of the Misfit’s also highlights another theme O’Connor is exploring: that of crime and punishment. The Misfit tells the grandmother that the punishments he has undergone don’t match with the crimes he has committed. But the story contains a religious angle, too, as exemplified by the grandmother’s epiphany at the end of the story, in which – when confronted with her own imminent death – she reaches out and acknowledges her killer as one of her ‘children’.

This blessing is in stark contrast to the Misfit, who – in almost Dostoevskian fashion – characterises Christianity as a case of either giving up anything and following Christ or rejecting him and doing as one pleases. Anything – murder, burning down someone’s house – is permissible and constitutes the only true pleasure one can get from life.

The grandmother’s final act of blessing (forgiveness, or a last desperate attempt to save her own life?) raises this petty, racially prejudiced, and comical old woman far above the level of the nihilistic Misfit and all he represents.

Of course, it may also be significant that the Misfit – who was accused by one of the prison psychiatrists of killing his own father – personally kills the grandmother, who represents an old and outmoded America. Flannery O’Connor’s story is about a changing America, and the text is marked by the Grandmother’s continual reminiscences about a better, simpler life when she was younger.

The story’s title, taken from Red Sammy’s conversation with the Grandmother in which they lament that the world has become debased and degraded during their lifetimes, places this mood and tone at the centre of the story.

In this connection, the grandmother’s attitude towards African-Americans is already outdated, even in 1955 when the story first appeared.

Her racial stereotypes , such as associating African-Americans with watermelons, the offensive words she uses to describe the black boy they pass in the car, and her casual presumptions about the lives of black people all mark her out as a representative of an older American outlook which is about to be entirely laid to rest with the onset of the US Civil Rights movement. (The Montgomery Bus Boycott , for example, occurred at the end of 1955, the year the story appeared.)

Final thoughts

Viewed this way, ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ might be productively analysed alongside a another key American text from the 1950s: Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , also from 1955, similarly deals with the generational gap between an older America and the younger Americans who represent a new attitude, especially regarding race.

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A Good Man is Hard to Find

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Religion—specifically Christianity—is a strong motif in the story; both the grandmother and The Misfit are preoccupied with religion. How do their views differ? How are they the same?

How does the grandmother define a “good man”? How does this term relate to the title of the story? Is the grandmother a good person herself?

Explore the various meanings behind the title: “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Does the story prove that this is true?

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A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery o’connor, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Violence and Grace

At the story’s end, the Misfit says of the Grandmother , “She would of been a good woman . . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” Flannery O’Connor may not necessarily believe that being exposed to violence makes us better people, but the message is clear: violence changes us.

As Flannery O’Connor said when delivering remarks on the story, “I have found that violence is strangely…

The characters of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” live by a variety of moral codes, and both the story’s title and the Grandmother ’s conversation with Red Sam bring up the idea of goodness, and what makes a “good man.” In the end, as the Grandmother still insists that the Misfit —who has just murdered her entire family—is a “good man,” the question lingers: does being “good” depend on one’s internal character or…

Punishment and Forgiveness

Much of the discussion between the Grandmother and the Misfit concerns ideas of punishment and forgiveness. A vision of the world is presented in the Misfit’s words: “Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another ain’t punished at all?” A fundamental question in Flannery O’Connor’s Christian worldview is the problem of evil: why do bad things happen to good people, and vice versa?

We are given no tidy…

Familial Conflict and Familial Love

Only at the story’s end do we get the slightest hint of familial love. Not only does the Grandmother shout “Bailey Boy! Bailey Boy!” as the only real affectionate moment inside her family, but she then goes on to refer to the Misfit as her own son. These moments of familial love, arriving only when the Grandmother faces death, appear in stark contrast to the rest of the story, which is filled with family members…

Moral Decay

The story’s title itself refers to the apparent moral decline witnessed by the Grandmother and others. There was a time, the Grandmother believes, when it was not so difficult to find good men, though we might wonder if that was ever actually true. To the Grandmother, though, the story’s action supports this belief. When stranded after a car crash, the family is not tended to by friendly neighbors, but by a killer and his henchmen…

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A Good Man Is Hard to Find Essay Topics & Samples

Flannery O’Connor’s short story has many more underlying ideas and symbols to discuss than you may think. If you decided to write an essay on “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” don’t forget to read through the sections of the guide made by Custom-Writing.org experts!

This article contains a list of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” essay prompts and ideas that will help you write a great paper. We’ve also included “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” thesis ideas and essay samples that you are welcome to use for inspiration.

• 💡 Essay Topics
• ✍️ Essay Prompts
• 🎓 Thesis Ideas
• 📚 Examples of Thesis Statements
• ✒️ Essay Samples

💡 A Good Man Is Hard to Find Essay Topics

Don’t panic if you don’t know where to start. Check out the prompts to help you write a successful “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” essay!

• The age of the characters in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find .” Why do you think the main character has to be an elderly lady? Why does age matter in this case? Flannery O’Connor describes the Grandmother’s life in a pretty negative light. She is lonely and often relives the memories from the past. What does it hint at?
• The meaning of being a “good man,” according to Flannery O’Connor . There’s no doubt that the concept of “goodness” is the main theme of the story. We can see that none of the characters can be an example of a “good man” because everybody’s perception of goodness is different. Is it possible to sum up the author’s point of view?
• “ A Good Man Is Hard to Find”: character analysis essay . This topic may be more complex than it seems! First of all, don’t forget to use our guide with the summary and analysis provided. Then, choose what character you want to write about. And don’t forget to include some quotes to prove your point!
• How does the setting affect the plot and character development in the story? Undoubtedly, the Grandmother’s change is the story’s major plot point. You don’t want to miss that! In this analysis essay on “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, you would need to focus on the literary devices that highlight the grotesque setting of this event.
• How is the theme of the family represented in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”? Here, you should write about family dynamics in the Bailey family. You may want to start with the Grandmother, who seems to be such a nice lady but ultimately doesn’t care about her family.
• The role of Red Sammy Butts in Flannery O’Connor’s story . What is this character’s function in this story? To drop the line that becomes the title of the story, or is there something more? Think about how Red Sam affects the Grandmother’s point of view.
• The Grandmother’s epiphany as the main idea of the story . This “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” essay prompt focuses on the Grandmother’s revelation in the end. Only when facing her death could she understand what true grace and divine love are. Study this idea and write down your thoughts!
• “ A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and violence. Good vs. evil is the short story’s major theme , but think about whether all the victims are so necessary. The Grandmother is forced to hear her whole family killed. Is facing death the only way for her to experience an epiphany?
• Symbolism in Flannery O’Connor’s short story . The author uses many literary devices, such as allegory and various symbols. For instance, the Grandmother’s hat is one of them, and the fact that it gets destroyed after the car crash has a meaning.
• A psychoanalytic review of the Misfit’s character from “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” This character is the most exciting one to analyze. The ever-changing beliefs and his point of view make the Misfit an extremely complex person. You would need to conduct a complete psychological analysis based on the description given in the story.
• What does the car accident symbolize? 
• Situational and dramatic irony in the story.
• Discuss the significance of the Misfit as a character.
• The Grandmother vs. the Misfit as characters.
• Evaluate the role of fate vs. free will in the narrative.
• The Grandmother’s epiphany and transformation.
• Analyze the story’s ambiguous ending and its implications.
• How does the theme of grace relate to the characters’ actions?
• Themes of morality and ethics in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
• The concept of violence as a way of redemption in the story.
• Religion and spirituality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
• Foreshadowing in the narrative and its impact on the story’s outcome.
• The theme of family dynamics and dysfunction in O’Connor’s story.
• How does humor in O’Connor’s story underline its dark themes?
• What’s the significance of the title “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”?

✍️ A Good Man Is Hard to Find Essay Prompts

A good man is hard to find: point of view essay prompt.

The short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is told from the third-person omniscient point of view. While the narrator here is not a character, they can access thoughts and feelings of all characters.

To write a comprehensive essay on this topic, you can do the following:

• Analyze how the third person point of view impacts the readers’ perception of characters and events. Does it allow the readers to form their own opinions on the characters? How does it help the author to create suspense and irony?
• Describe the shift of the story’s perspective from the Grandmother to the Misfit. What effect does it have on readers’ engagement with these characters? How does it relate to the story’s themes?

A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Foreshadowing Essay Prompt

Foreshadowing is a literary technique that creates suspense and tension in the narrative. When studying its role in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” try to answer these questions:

• What is the most impactful example of foreshadowing in the story? Discuss the Grandmother’s mentioning of the Misfit at the beginning, her choice of outfit, and other elements that create the grim atmosphere of the story.
• How does foreshadowing affect readers’ understanding of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”? Show how the hints O’Connor drops throughout the story underline themes like redemption and morality.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Essay on the Misfit Prompt

The Misfit is a key character in the story who embodies moral ambiguity. Here’s what an essay about him might explore:

• The Misfit’s background and worldview. Use textual evidence from the dialogue between the Grandmother and the Misfit to provide insights into his backstory. Additionally, explore how he sees the concepts of good, evil, divine justice, and salvation.
• How do the Misfit’s interactions with other characters affect them? For example, how does he convince the Grandmother to reexamine her values and views? What about the others? Do these interactions give readers any new information about the characters?
• The role of the Misfit in revealing the themes of goodness and redemption. Your essay could explain how the Misfit’s moral ambiguity reflects the complexity of human nature and reveals the potential of redemption, even in the most unlikely case.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Good vs. Evil Essay Prompt

Flannery O’Connor often discussed the topics of good and evil in her literary works. To thoroughly explore this theme in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” we suggest doing the following:

• Show how different characters of the story understand the notions of good and bad. For example, you can compare the Grandmother’s superficial perception of “goodness” with the Misfit’s twisted moral code. Besides, it’s worth highlighting the views of other characters.
• Explain how O’Connor’s portrayal of good and evil reflects her views on society. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” highlights broader societal issues through a relatively simple plot. You can use evidence from the text to demonstrate societal dilemmas in the story.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Grandmother Analysis Essay Prompt

The Grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a complex character. Your essay could analyze her personality and influence on the events in the story. Here are a few questions to boost your inspiration:

• What are the Grandmother’s character traits and beliefs? From the very beginning of the story, the Grandmother is shown as a vain, egoistical, and manipulative woman. What episodes and dialogues demonstrate her traits?
• How does the Grandmother change throughout the story? Analyze the textual evidence that demonstrates the Grandmother’s genuine connection with other characters and her attempt at redemption.
• What does the Grandmother symbolize? She represents many things, such as the old South, traditional values, hypocrisy, and superficial morality. What else can you add to this list? Give your opinion and corroborate it with proof from the text.

🎓 A Good Man Is Hard to Find Thesis Ideas

• Calvinist dogmas’ reflection in the Grandmother and the Misfit.
• The delusion of perfection represented via Bailey’s family.
• The reflection of political instability and faith crisis in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find .”
• Character analysis of the Grandmother through the prism of politeness theory.
• Violence as a trajectory of passion modes and transformation as seen in the Misfit.
• Consequences of the lack of communication within Bailey’s family.
• The Grandmother’s perception of social status.
• The role of Civil War allusions in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
• The use of terror and offense for religious ends in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
• Corporeal feminist motifs in O’Connor’s story.

📚 Examples of a Thesis Statement for A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Wondering how to write “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” thesis statement for your essay? Get inspired with these examples:

• Topic: The role of dark humor in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Thesis: Flannery O’Connor employs dark humor to highlight the moral complexity of the story’s characters.
• Topic: Analyze the symbolism of the Misfit character. Thesis : The character of the Misfit in ”A Good Man Is Hard to Find” embodies existentialism and moral ambiguity.
• Topic: Foreshadowing and tension in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Thesis: O’Connor’s use of foreshadowing allows her to create tension regarding the characters’ ultimate fate.
• Topic: The significance of the Grandmother’s evolution in the story. Thesis: The Grandmother’s transformation from a selfish woman to a character seeking grace is central to the theme of redemption in the story.
• Topic: Discuss the symbolic meaning of the title “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Thesis: The story’s title, ”A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” symbolizes the search for decency in a world of moral decay.
• Topic: What are O’Connor’s views on true goodness? Thesis: O’Connor expresses the idea that true goodness only shows itself in moments of crisis.
• Topic: Research the role of Christian symbolism in the story. Thesis: Religious symbolism in the story highlights the characters’ dilemmas regarding faith and morality.
• Topic: Family relationships and traditional values in O’Connor’s story. Thesis: The portrayal of a dysfunctional family in ”A Good Man Is Hard to Find” reflects the erosion of traditional family values.
• Topis: The use of irony in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Thesis: The irony in the story allows O’Connor to reveal the corruption and evil hidden beneath the mask of moral goodness.
• Topic: How is the concept of true goodness portrayed in the story? Thesis: The main idea of Flannery O’Connor’s story is that genuine goodness goes beyond societal expectations.

✒️ A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Essay Samples

Below you’ll find a collection of A Good Man Is Hard to Find essay examples. You are welcome to use them for inspiration!

• Literary Devices in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by O’Connor
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find Analysis
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Main Ideas
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Literary Analysis
• Moral Codes in O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
• Superficial Goodness in O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
• A Good Man is Hard to Find & The Story of an Hour: Compare & Contrast Essay
• Dream and Reality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
• Symbols and Metaphors in A Good Man Is Hard to Find
• “A Rose for Emily” by Faulkner and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by O’Connor
• Selfishness and Individualism in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
• Ambiguity of Goodness in O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
• The Depiction of Divine Grace in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
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Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

One of the reasons why the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor is being commonly referred to, as such that represents a high literary value, is that while exposed to it, readers become enlightened as to the fact that, while remaining affiliated with the provisions of the religion-based morality, people grow increasingly dangerous to themselves and their close relatives.

After all, as the author shows in this particular story, it is named on the account of self-righteous/pious but perceptually arrogant individuals (such as the character of Grandmother) that the saying “road to hell is made out of good intentions” continues to reflect the actual effects of this type of people being allowed to influence the society’s functioning. In her story, O’Connor also exposes the sheer fallaciousness of the Christian dogma that Jesus does help people that believe in his mission of ‘saving mankind’. In my paper, I will explore the validity of the above-suggestion at length.

The plot of O’Connor’s story is a rather straightforward one. It is being concerned with the description of the road-trip, undertaken by the members of one Southern family (the characters of Bailey, his wife, their two young children – John Wesley and June Star and the Grandmother) from Atlanta, Georgia, down to Florida. During this trip, the Grandmother never ceases to act as an ‘authority figure’, while manipulating her grandchildren psychologically.

Consequently, Bailey loses control of the car and, after having survived the accident, the travelers end up stranded on one of the secondary dirt roads. While there, they get to be approached by three dangerously looking men with handguns in their hand. The Grandmother recognizes the notorious Misfit (an escaped prisoner) in one of them. This seals the family’s fate – escaped prisoners decide to kill just about everyone that traveled in the car so that they would not be reported to the authorities.

The closer analysis of the story’s themes and motifs points out to the author’s implicit intention in making readers conclude that much of the blame for what happened to Bailey’s family can be assigned to the character of Grandmother, as an individual who was willing to misrepresent her real agenda, within the context of how she used to position herself in life. For example, even though the real reason why the Grandmother did not want to go to Florida is that she wanted to visit East Tennessee, she nevertheless never admitted to this.

Instead, the Grandmother was trying to convince Bailey and his wife that there could be very little educational value in preferring Florida, as the trip’s destination: “You all ought to take them (children) somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad” (O’Connor 1). This, of course, reveals the character of Grandmother as a hypocritical person – ‘respectable’ on the outside, but strongly selfish on the inside. The author wanted to expose this particular psychological trait, on the part of the Grandmother, as being representative of how religious people go about addressing life-challenges.

For example, even though that the official reason why Catholic clergymen oppose the distribution of condoms in Third World countries, is that they want to prevent the ‘murder’ of unborn children, the actual rationale behind such their agenda is different. By acting in such a manner, these people simply want the Third World countries to continue to suffer from the problem of overpopulation, which causes poverty. After all, as sociologists are well aware, the more impoverished a particular society is, the more its members are willing to embrace religion – pure and simple. Thus, it is indeed appropriate in referring to the character of Grandmother as the embodiment of the well-meaning but essentially deceitful ‘Christian values’.

The validity of this suggestion can also be illustrated, in regards to how the Grandmother acted, after having realized that there was no ‘secret panel’ in the house, which she wanted to visit: “The horrible thought she (the Grandmother) had had before the accident was that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but Tennessee” (4). Instead of admitting her mistake, the Grandmother decided to allow the rest of the travelers to remain uninformed that there was no reason for them to switch to the dirt road in the first place.

Enough, the Grandmother expected that her little dirty secret would remain concealed; while growing ever more self-convinced that there was no secret panel in the first place. It is understood, of course, that by continuing to keep her travel companions in the dark as to the secret panel’s non-existence, the Grandmother acted immorally. Yet, she did not act any more immoral than the Orthodox Church’s high-ranking officials, for example, who despite being thoroughly aware that the ‘miracle’ of the so-called ‘holy fire’ being ignited by God himself, during the Easter celebrations, is, in fact, a fake (they admit to it unofficially), nevertheless continue glorifying it.

Apparently, by exposing readers to this particular episode in her story, O’Connor strived to emphasize the fact that, despite the religious people’s belief that they do have what it takes to be able to lead others, this is far from being the case. This simply could not be otherwise; because one’s strong affiliation with the conventions of a religious morality naturally causes the concerned individual to adopt an intellectually arrogant stance in life. As a result, such a person becomes utterly incapable of assessing the surrounding reality adequately. Another consequence of the religious people’s intellectual arrogance is that as time goes on, they begin to accept as true the essentially nonsensical fables, such as the Biblical accounts of talking donkeys, impregnating ‘holy ghosts’ and the sun standing still in the sky.

Even though that, on a conscious level, religious people do realize the sheer fallaciousness of the earlier mentioned accounts, they nevertheless apply a mental effort into silencing the voice of reason in their minds, in this respect, so that they may continue to believe in the possibility of ‘miracles.’ This explains why, after having realized that there was no ‘secret panel’ in the house she wanted to visit, the Grandmother simply suppressed such her realization mentally, as it was causing her a great deal of emotional discomfort.

What has been mentioned earlier, however, is only part of the problem. Because it is in the very nature of just about any monotheistic religion to divide people into those that are being favored by God (‘chosen people’), on the one hand, and ‘infidels,’ on the other, religiously-minded individuals are by definition intolerant. There is another memorable episode in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by , where the Grandmother applies a derogatory term to a Black boy, she saw out on the street: “’Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!’ she (the Grandmother) said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack” (2).

It never occurred to the Grandmother that there was something wrong about the fact that her remark implied the Black people’s sub-humanity – just as it never occurred to White slave-owners back in the past that by treating Black slaves as a soulless commodity, they were acting immorally. After all, the ‘good book’ does endorse slavery as a thoroughly appropriate state of affairs.

The fact that the Grandmother was a hypocritical person is also being revealed in the scene, where she begs the Misfit to spare her life: “Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” (7). If the Grandmother was indeed faithful to Jesus, as she believed she was, she would not be trying to hang on to life with all her might. After not all, according to Jesus, people’s physical existence is not worth even a penny, and it is namely the prospect of being able to reunite with the ‘savior’ in the ‘kingdom of heaven,’ which true believers are supposed to prioritize above everything else.

Enough, the Misfit was presenting the Grandmother with such a prospect – yet, she proved herself rather unenthusiastic, in this respect. Instead, the Grandmother was trying to appeal to the Misfit’s basic humanity so that he would not kill her: “I just know you’re a good man” (5). By doing this, Grandmother wanted to elevate the Misfit to her level, as she never doubted her own ‘goodness.’ However, as we pointed out earlier, Grandmother’s ‘goodness’ was in essence illusionary.

Therefore, there is nothing too surprising about the story’s conclusion. It appears that O’Connor wanted to say that the Misfit was just as ‘good’ as the character of Grandmother – in the sense of being evil, of course. The only difference between the two is that, as opposed to the Grandmother, the Misfit did not have a socially imposed reason to have his evilness hidden. This explains the symbolical significance of the Grandmother’s death.

One of the story’s discursive implications is that there is indeed a good reason to think of the situation when the self-righteous ‘lambs of God’ even today are continuing to affect the process of policy-making in America, is utterly inappropriate. After all, as it was shown by O’Connor, despite these people’s self-adopted posture as ‘lambs,’ they are viciously minded ‘wolves’ – much worse than those ‘sinners’ (intellectually advanced individuals/atheists) that they never cease criticizing.

It is exactly the reason why self-righteous bible thumpers do not have the right to position themselves as ‘authority figures’ – being intellectually marginalized individuals, they cannot benefit the society, by definition. Thus, there can be only a few doubts as to the discussed story’s overall progressiveness, as it does expose what account for the eventual consequences of one’s intellectual arrogance – even if this arrogance is being disguised as religion.

I believe that the earlier deployed line of argumentation, as to what can be considered the story’s discursive meaning, fully correlates with the paper’s initial thesis

Works Cited

O’Connor, Flannery 1953, A Good Man Is Hard to Find .

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IvyPanda. (2021, January 11). Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find-by-flannery-oconnor-essay/

"Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor." IvyPanda , 11 Jan. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find-by-flannery-oconnor-essay/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor'. 11 January.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor." January 11, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find-by-flannery-oconnor-essay/.

1. IvyPanda . "Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor." January 11, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find-by-flannery-oconnor-essay/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Religion-Based Morality in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor." January 11, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find-by-flannery-oconnor-essay/.