A Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis

A Good Man Is Hard to Find
A Good Man is Hard to Find was an eye opening story, but, upon my first read on it, I was too narrow-minded to realize this. The story involves a family heading to Florida for vacation when on their way there they run into a malicious serial killer, who murders them all. However, after much research on the story and the author, I discovered there was much more to the story than just that. My initial response, changes in viewpoints, and reinforced viewpoints, showcased my growth in understanding and final reaction to the story. My initial reaction to the story was depression and confusion. The setting of the story was in Georgia, traveling to Florida, and I recalled the author did a good job of making the reader …show more content…
What I didn’t understand was what the author wanted them to stand for or symbolize. The point of view of this story was third person limited omniscient, focusing singularly on the Grandmother. I believed this was effective because, it helped emphasize how important the character of the Grandmother was by expressing her thoughts and feelings. The style of this story, I thought, made it more interesting. The figurative language such as foreshadowing helped create suspense for the reader. The reader knew the family would encounter the Misfit, but when they would is what aroused that feeling. The tone of this story, to me, was eerie and violent. This is because the entire family ends up being murdered. The plot was very sequential and flowed well. Each event slowly led up to the climax making the reader anxious, the mention of the Misfit at the beginning, the mention of the Misfit at the restaurant, getting lost, and then in a car accident. The reader knew what was coming, as mentioned earlier, but when that was coming was a mystery. I thought the plot was important, but I thought the characters were more important. They seemed to have a …show more content…
In the beginning paragraphs I didn’t understand the roles of the Grandmother or the Misfit. However, in the essay, O’Connor mentions how the Grandmothers purpose is to be an example of what a hypocrite looks like. To me that makes sense because, she explains how “good” of a Christian lady she is, when she doesn’t demonstrate it. This is evident when, after the family tells her she can’t bring the cat on the trip, she sneaks him on, or when she lies to the family about the plantation she visited when she was younger, so they would want to go. Next, I was wrong about the Misfit symbolizing the devil. O’Connor explains how that was a false accusations made by many. The purpose of the Misfit is to have him symbolize a non-believer, which makes sense as to why he can’t comprehend how Jesus conquered death. That is a perfect example of something a non-believer would say or believe. In the conclusion, the Grandmother says how the Misfit was “her child”, and as noted in the first paragraph, I didn’t understand what that meant. After reading the essay, I know now, that the Grandmother was reaching out to the Misfit and showing him how God views us. God considers us his children, which is why she addressed the Misfit as “her child”. That would imply he is our “father”, and a father’s love for his children, in most cases, is unconditional. The Grandmother was trying to prove to the Misfit that he is loved

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