Saturday, September 4, 2010

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Blog about "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Does the plot surprise you? Why or why not?  When you started reading the story, what did you think would happen?  If you have seen any films by the Coen brothers (especially No Country for Old Men), can you see how they were influenced by Flannery O'Connor? 


In this short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is about a grandmother who foreshadow her and her family death during a family trip to Florida. At first, the grandmother did not want to go to Florida because of the The Misfit, a wanted criminal who was heading towards Florida.  She did not want to "take [her] children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it" (356).  But the rest of the family eventually got the Grandmother to come on the trip.  The Grandmother's initial fear sets up the story for the rest of the story because then the readers could predict that The Misfit will run into the family and will have an impact on the family.

As the story progress, the family got into an accident because the car was flipped over when the family was going to some house with a secret panel.  Then a car with three men came and once these men came out of the car, the Grandmother realized that one of them is the The Misfit.  She started to cry because she knew that her first feelings about going on to the trip.  As The Misfit and the Grandmother were talking about The Misfit's family background, he claimed that "God never made a finer woman than my mother and my daddy's heart was pure gold" (364).  This quotation is significant because the readers ask why did this man become a criminal if he talks to greatly about the parents?

The ending surprised me the most because after The Misfit and his gang killed the family, The Misfit announced that the grandmother was his mother.  This was surprising because the grandmother would of recognized her own son when The Misfit stepped out of the car.  What was more shocking how The Misfit even told his mother that she was a fine woman. This makes me wonder why would The Misfit wanted to kill her then.  The killing and the announcement was a great twist to the end of the story.

1 comment:

  1. Good analysis of the use of foreshadowing. Flannery O'Conner uses lots of foreshadowing here. I think you may have misread the ending. They are talking about being mother and son, but they don't mean it literally. Take a second look. Also, make sure that you reread and edit your writing.

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