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Darrian Barrera

Professor Wilson

English 123

3 February 2018

Response Paper on Flannery O’Connor A Good Man is Hard to Find

After reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I had a hard time figuring out what

this story is trying to say, and what the title means. However, I knew I would be able to

interpret the meaning by analyzing the conversation between the grandmother and the

Misfit, whose names are not given. I knew that the argument between the misfit and the

grandmother was the most important part in this story, and that plenty of information can

be found there. Consequently, I came up with an idea that this part of the story has

some connections with religion and how many of us try to ignore religion, or those who

are trying to help when we are in need of help.

Throughout the story, I found the grandmother irritating and idiotic, because her

families misfortune was caused by her selfishness. For example, in order to get her

way, the grandmother lied to her grandchildren about a “secret panel” in her old house,

for she knew the kids curiosity will annoy Bailey, the grandma’s son. The grandma also

decided to bring her cat, Pitty Sing, along for the trip, and hide it in a basket. The cat

later caused the car accident, as it caught Bailey off guard, “The newspaper top she had

over the basket under it rose with a snarl and Pitty Sing, the cat, sprang onto Bailey’s

shoulder”(pg. 476) Regardless of her selfish decisions, I noticed that the grandmother

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symbolised a prophet. Once the grandmother noticed the shirtless man was the misfit,

she said, “I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I

know you must come from nice people!”(pg.477). Despite being in fear, the

grandmother was the only one conversing with the misfit. She constantly tells the misfit

he is a “good man” and to “pray”, but the misfit ignores her statements by telling his past

life, including his confinement. The grandmother’s constant statements reminds me

when Jesus was asking his father to forgive man, and that we are good people. When

the grandmother noticed that the Misfit’s voiced croak, she gained a sense of clarity and

compassion towards the Misfit and said, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of

my own children!”(pg. 481). Although the author might’ve written this, so the reader

might think that the grandmother was probably trying to take advantage of the Misfit’s

emotions, I simply think the author intentionally wrote this to compare the grandmother

as God. God thinks of people as his children, no matter who we are and how broken we

have become, but sometimes we disobey God by committing sins, especially when

Jesus, God’s son, was crucified.

When Bailey and John Wesley were taken into the woods, the misfit expresses

his emotions and states everything he has endured or seen, “...Been in the arm service,

both land and sea, at home and abroad, been twict married, been an undertaker, been

with railroads, plowed Mother Earth, been in a tornado, seen a man burnt alive oncet...I

even seen a woman flogged.”(pg. 479). From what I have gathered from this quote, the

Misfit tells the grandmother his experiences with life:the good and the bad. Everyone in

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their life experiences great things , but once in awhile we come across obstacles in life

that question our happiness. In most cases, those of us who have stumbled and fallen

can’t get back up, and we disregard other people who are trying to help us. The Misfit

explains to the grandmother why he calls himself the Misfit, “I call myself the Misfit

because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through is

punishment”(pg. 480). This quote is a great example of how many of us feel when

something bad happens to us. Most individuals, including myself, feel like the sufferings

that happens in our lives is a punishment from God. Even if most of us are not religious,

we either blame somebody or something for our misfortunes.

I found it interesting that the author foreshadows that the family will meet the

misfit. In the beginning of the story, even though her intentions was to go to Tennessee,

the grandmother tried changing Bailey’s mind of going to Florida by showing him a

newsletter, which informed people of the misfit’s travel to Florida. Bailey ignored her

warnings, and the family died by the hands of the Misfit and his goons. In the bible,

moses tried to persuade the pharaoh to let his people go from slavery and lead them to

the promise land, but he ignored him. As a result of this, God brought down the ten

plagues that caused great sufferings to Egypt and the Pharaoh. In the book it states

that the Misfit shoots the grandma “three times through the chest”(pg. 481), and in the

bible it states that jesus rose from the dead within the third day after his death. I found

this very unusual, since the author writes about “prayer, Jesus, and good people”. The

author could have chosen any number, but she chooses the number three because she

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is trying to prove a point about people’s view on religion, and our avoidance of seeking

help. Many of us take religion seriously, even to an extent of becoming fanatical, but

most of us try to avoid the subject.

The grandmother’s death is significant in this story. After the Misfit shoots the

grandmother, Bobby Lee, one of the Misfit’s goon, comments something about her

death. The Misfit responds with, “Shut up, Bobby Lee,” The Misfit said. “It’s no real

pleasure in Life”(pg.481). I found this statement contradicting because in a recent

conversation with the grandmother, the Misfit tells the grandma “but enjoy the few

minutes you got left the best way you can-by killing somebody or burning down his

house or doing some other meaness to him. No pleasure but meaness”(pg 480). Here

the Misfit says the only pleasure in life is doing “meaness”. However, after the

grandma’s death he has a change of heart. Jesus died for our sins, and saved us.

Although, people recognized Jesus’s heroic actions after his death. The author is trying

to say here that everyone has a good heart, but sometimes it takes us a great deal of

time for us to realize it.

In conclusion, I think this story is trying to say that religion makes good men. Men

in this case is not gender specific. Many great prophets realized the goodness we have

in our hearts, but sometimes we let evil take control. To vanquish the evil in our hearts,

we seek religion for comfort, and view Messiahs or God as our savior. I think the author

chose a great title, “ A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Because God and the prophets

helped people, who are suffering, find happiness. However, now religion is not taken

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seriously and people are not seeking religion for help. As a result, the people who are in

despair are lost.

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 Work Cited

O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is hard to Find.” The Norton Introduction to

Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. Shorter 12th ed. New York: Norton, 2016. 470-481. Print.