" The primary characters in this story are the grandmother and the Misfit and the fact that they encounter one another is another blend of the comical and the ironic. However, the dramatic contrast between the two characters is the center of attention. Both characters are grotesque. The grandmother is grotesque because she is a good person only on the surface. We know that she is annoying and overbearing. Because she had to have her way, bring the cat, and show the children the house with the secret panel, the family pays the ultimate price. We can see the grotesque nature of the Misfit because he is a cold-blooded criminal, but it is important to recognize how his character acts as a foil to the grandmother. It is interesting that these two seemingly different individuals almost make a connection by the end of the story. However, it is because of their personalities that they do not connect - she being the domineering type that only wants to talk and he being the psychotic refusing to listen.
Another contrast with their personalities is the grandmother's sense of false hope and the Misfit's hopelessness. She tells him to pray to Jesus and he tells her:
Jesus thrown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then it's nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and it He didn't...
Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. Specifically, it will focus on the use of comedy/humor, foreshadowing, and irony in the work. Flannery O'Connor is one of the South's most well-known writers, and nearly all of her works, including this short story, take place in Southern locales. Her work embodies the Southern lifestyle, which includes close family ties, attention to family roots, and a more laid-back and
There is an almost pitiable desperation to challenge her sensibilities, indeed to teach her a lesson, that is overtly self-serving. And so we see, in the resolution of O'Connor's story, that Julian will suffer the consequences of his illusions. In no way does Julian's behavior absolve the deplorable belief system espoused by his mother and the great many of her ilk. However, it does demonstrate the smallness of all
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Cars and driving are emblems of American culture, and have defined American lifestyle and identity. American cities are built around the car, and so is the urban and suburban sprawl. It is no small coincidence, therefore, that both Flannery O'Connor and Dagoberto Gilb use a car as a central symbol in their short stories. In O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a road trip turns deadly when the
Manley forces Hulga to realize she is not the thought woman she wants to be and he forces Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman that not all country people are good. Hulga is not the strong women she attempts to be, however, and nothing demonstrates this more than her reaction to Manley's treatment of her. In the home with the two older women, Hulga can express herself as she wishes because
Faulkner's story is titled "A Rose for Emily," the text does not mention rose. It is ironic that Faulkner gives his story a title that seems to run counter to the characterization of Emily. Emily is portrayed as an object, at the same time the narrator pities her and describes her as an irritating person who would rather live life on her own terms, which eventually leads to her
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