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Thursday, 2 April 2015
Works Cited
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Collected Works: Wes Blood, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the Violent Bear It Away, Everything That Rises Must Converge, Essays and Letters. New York, NY: Library of America, 1988. 137-153. Print.
Characters
Grandmother - Racist and set in her ways.
Bailey - Son of the grandmother, and seemingly tired of her presence. Tense in general.
Bailey’s Wife - Little information given. Assumed to be the calmer side of Bailey.
John Wesley and June Star - Children of Bailey and his wife. Disrespectful and talkative. Frequently clash with the grandmother.
Misfit - A murderer. An older, bespectacled man who is known for killing his father.
Bobby Lee and Hiram - The Misfit’s henchmen. No real depth of character.
Red Sammy - One of the “Good Old Boys.” Restaurant owner.
Red Sammy’s Wife - Typical rural-liver. Harmless but lacking depth.
Summary and Plot Arc
In A Good Man is Hard to Find, a family from Georgia is getting ready to leave on a trip for Florida. The family consists of a grandmother, her son and his wife, their two children, and a cat. The grandmother is opposed to going to Florida, citing a recent newspaper article that indicates a killer called "The Misfit," has escaped from a prison in Florida, and is on his way towards them. Instead, the grandmother suggests they visit their family in Tennessee. They ignore her and begin their trip.
While driving, the family stops at a Barbecue joint owned by a man named "Red Sammy." Like the grandmother, Red Sammy is untrusting of the ways of the world, and prefers "the good old days."
After leaving the restaurant, the family continues driving until the grandmother convinces them to turn down a grid road, towards what she believes to be an old Plantation house. While driving on the road, the grandmother remembers the house is in Tennessee, not Georgia. She is embarrassed and bumps the cat, who hits Bailey, the son and driver, causing an accident.
Upon recovering from the crash, another car pulls up. Three men get out; one is the Misfit. The Misfit and his men execute the family, but not before the grandmother pleads with him. She touches his arm and he shoots her. The three men presumably drive away.
The Symbol of Glasses
The Far-Sightedness of Glasses in A Good Man is Hard to Find
Glasses are an intriguing symbol in A Good Man is Hard to Find, because they are worn by one character: The Misfit. Typically, glasses are a symbol that indicate intelligence, as well as providing the practical feature of aiding sight. The Misfit’s character is described as having a “scholarly look” (146,) in regards to his bespectacled face. This notion of his scholarly appearance is contrasted with the rest of his appearance, being shirtless and wearing tight-fitting pants, while holding a gun (146.)While this contrast in dress could be ironic in order to depict a ruthless nature, it also presents insight into the Misfit’s character. The Misfit, while evil in action, may be the most knowledgeable and insightful character in regards to understanding the ways of the world. This presents a negative and dark depiction about the truth of society and human nature. However, it also presents the argument that a man such as the Misfit could be driven to his current state of ruthlessness by understanding and accepting the state of humanity. The glasses depict the intelligence and insight of the Misfit, who is able to see the world with clarity. It is this sight, this understanding, that propels his action. When the Misfit removes his glasses, his eyes are described as "red-rimmed and pale and defenseless-looking" (153.) This could suggest a type of self-awareness on the part of the Misfit, as well as the persona he has put on in order to survive the way he does.
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Protection and the Cruelties of the World, a Short Essay
The Theme of Protection in A Good Man is Hard to Find
In Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find, the theme of protection is emphasized through the characters and their attire, and the setting. Through the family’s inability to protect each other or themselves while on a road trip, as well as the presence of a chaotic figure like the Misfit, the story reveals a truth: once an individual has entered into the world at large, protection from the dangers of this world are wholly impossible. The story thus presents a grim world, the nature of which is ruthless, random, and unforgiving.
The car is the primary setting of the story, and the family is travelling through Georgia. Both the car and Georgia represent a false idea of protection, in that the car is thought to be a generally safe place, with the entire family in it, yet through the crashing of the car, the family is placed in a situation with fatal consequences. The car is taken by the force most opposing protection, the Misfit, emphasizing the frailty of protection. The fact that the family is still in Georgia also emphasizes this notion of false protection, and how quickly it can be lost. Georgia is their home state, and a relatively quiet, safe place. The fact that the Misfit is able to come from Florida, and disrupt this seemingly safe world, further establishes the cruelties of the world, and their chaotic indifference towards the individual.
The grandmother presents the most interesting depiction of a desire for protection, while also an inability to have it. Her hat is one symbol that emphasizes the theme of protection lost. The hat breaks in the grandmother’s hands, illustrating that she has lost her protection. “The grandmother reached up to adjust her hat brim as if she were going to the woods with him but it came off in her hand. She stood staring at it and after a second she let it fall on the ground” (148.) She relies on the hat for protection from the sun, and its breaking just as her son, Bailey, is being led to his death signals the loss of a protective force in her life. At this point the grandmother has truly lost her ability to protect her loved ones, as well as be protected by them. Protecting her family is supposedly her primary goal from the outset of the story, which is revealed through the grandmother talking to her son about the Misfit’s escape: “I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did” (137.) The grandmother does not want to go to Florida for fear of the Misfit, a killer who represents the dangers and cruelties of the world, things she wishes to protect her family from. The children already having been to Florida, the grandmother would rather go to Tennessee to allow the family to experience the world, “"You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad. They never have been to east Tennessee” (137.) This is ironic because they have family there and it is arguably more sheltered. It is also ironic because, as the grandmother argues, seeing the world is important, but in so doing they open themselves to the dangers of it, something she wishes to avoid. A complete paradox, the grandmother argues both the necessity of seeing and experiencing the world, while also attempting to shield her family from it.
The parental figure as a protective force also emphasizes the loss of protection in this story, as all three children are killed under the protection of their parents. The grandmother attempts to call back her son when he is being led to his death: “"Come back this instant!" his mother shrilled but they all disappeared into the woods. "Bailey Boy!"” (148.) This captures the inability of the parent to protect their children, which is arguably the sole duty of the parental figure. Instead, the Misfit carries out the uncaring nature of the world, and illustrates that there are certainties, like death, that a person can not be protected from. The Misfit’s recoils at the grandmother’s touch, and promptly executes her, “She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest” (152.) This also speaks to the loss of protection, in that the Misfit actually fears the touch of a parental figure, hinting that his own parents may be the cause of his current state. When the Misfit removes his glasses after killing the grandmother he is seen as sad and defenceless (153.) With the grandmother previously addressing him as “one of my babies,” (152) then being shot, a renunciation of protective forces is revealed. There is potential that these forces betrayed the Misfit, and having been betrayed by the only protective force in the world, a parental figure, he has become as hard as the world itself, thus embodying the cruelties of life. Regardless of the Misfit’s history with his parents, the notion of parents being incapable of protecting their children is a powerful means by which the world’s uncaring nature is revealed.
There is no real guaranteed protection in the world. Family can be ripped apart, and like the Misfit, the world is indifferent. Trust does not mean protection, evident through Red Sammy’s story to the family: “"Two fellers come in here last week," Red Sammy said, "driving a Chrysler. It was a old beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me. Said they worked at the mill and you know I let them fellers charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that?"” (141-142.) Even experiencing the world as extensively as Red Sammy, a Veteran, has, protection can not be guaranteed. Rather, by entering into the world, one is opening themselves to the variability of other people and their actions, which means an opening up of the self to the potential dangers of the world. Like Sammy and the grandmother, people can be wary of the world's dangers, however leaving the car can be perilous.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/goodman.html
Discussion Questions
Five Questions Worth Considering
1.
The Grandmother displays opinions and beliefs that are out of step with the current time, and although she arguably has a moment of clarity in her final exchange with the Misfit, she remains a character quite rooted in the past. Knowing this, what change does the Grandmother experience, if any?
2.
Clothing is repeatedly emphasized throughout A Good Man is Hard to Find. What does clothing reveal about the characters? What could the emphasis on clothing represent?
3.
Based on what evidence the reader is given through characterization, are John Wesley and June Star, the children, worse human beings than the Grandmother?
4.
There is tension between generations, and ways of viewing the world throughout O’Connor’s story. By examining the generations through the characters’ who lived them, i.e.: the Grandmother’s, Bailey, his wife and the Misfit’s, and the two children’s, which generation is being argued as superior? Or, are all equally flawed?
5.
By examining the tone of A Good Man is Hard to Find, along with the outcome of the Grandmother and her family at the hands of the Misfit, is there any hope for a positive society? Or, is the only way to succeed in life by being ruthless?
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