Thus, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" can be read as something of the inverse, or parallel, parable to "Good Country People": In the former, nihilism, or the absence of belief, wins out over faith, despite the Misfit's ugly admonition that his anti-programmatic perception of the world is ultimately not firm enough for anyone to rest on. While in "Good Country People," that nihilism is shattered - not by faith, but again, by false faith, which, O'Connor implies, Joy really should have been intelligent enough to detect; had her intellect been tempered with belief of some sort, perhaps she would have.
At the heart of "Everything That Must Rises Must Converge" is a conflict in perception between the two main characters, a mother and son. The son, a highly educated, intelligent young man, believes strongly in social progress. In the course of the narrative, which details a bus trip that the two take to the local Y shortly after integration has taken place, the son watches resentfully as his mother behaves in a racist, yet hypocritical fashion towards African-Americans. Her entire belief system is rooted in the past - in the son's eyes, "the old world is gone. The old manners are obsolete and your graciousness is not worth a damn" (O'Connor n.d.) in the end of the story, she gets a rude awakening when the mother of a black child to whom she was condescendingly giving a penny punches her in the face, literally shattering her belief system, as the son looks on, satisfied. But his smug beliefs in liberal ideals are also challenged in the last lines of the story, when it becomes evident that his mother may die from her injuries.
The message of this, as with O'Connor's other stories, seems to be that belief, when supported by self-righteousness, is no alternative to nihilism....
"You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady.... "Lady,"...There were two more pistol reports and the grandmother raised her head like a parched old turkey hen crying for water and called, "Bailey Boy, Bailey Boy!" As if her heart would break. "Jesus was the only One that ever raised the
..if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." [8] in O'Connor's case, that somebody was lupus. End notes. 1] O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Archived at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~DRBR/goodman.html 2] Knickerbopcker, Eric. "Flannery O'Connor: Heaven Suffereth Violence" Available at http://www.mrrena.com/flannery.shtml 3] O'Connor, Flannery. "Everything that Rises Must Converge." Archived at http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/oconnorconverge.html 4] O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Archived at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~DRBR/goodman.html 5] Galloway, Patrick. "The
Flannery O'Connor's literature has been described as grotesque, Catholic, Southern, and even gothic. Her work has also been recognized for its harsh humor and criticism of the south. Much of her literature reflects the hostilities she experienced against racist southern attitudes, social structures, and southern ways of life. She was awarded three O. Henry awards for short fiction during her life as well as numerous grants and fellowships. After her
American Lit Flannery O'Connor and the Experience of Grace Perhaps more than any other modern American writer, Flannery O'Connor stood apart from the America modernist tradition. She has very little sense of alienation from past ideological solutions -- in fact, she embraces her Catholicism. Unlike most of her male contemporaries of her literary stature, she primarily expressed herself through the vehicle of short fiction, rather than novels. Unlike most Southern writers of
Flannery O�Connor: Annotated BibliographyCiuba, Gary M.�Desire, Violence & Divinity in Modern Southern Fiction: Katherine AnnePorter, Flannery O\\\'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Walker Percy. LSU Press, 2007.This book is helpful in understanding the role that violence plays in O�Connor�s fiction. There is a violent confrontation in �Everything That Rises� and there is a moment of passion in �Good Country People� that ends with theft. Both stories leave the reader with many questions, and
Man Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" presents a grim and pessimistic view of human nature. None of the characters in the short story are likeable, and when the Misfit kills the grandmother, the reader feels little sympathy with her. Flannery O'Connor paints a portrait of modern American society as being bereft of "good" people, and as being inherently flawed. Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good
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