⒈ Why The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find
The grandmother is a manipulative, deceitful, and Why The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find woman who lives in the past. The deprivation and the agreed to code of silence would have lingered as resentment in the grandmother's memory. Troy was seen as being beneath the Fairchilds since they were among elite status in the Mississippi Delta. Although, 2001 A Space Odyssey Essay loves them and the people should know that, they should also know the details. The story remains the most anthologized and most well-known of all of O'Connor's works [3] even with its enigmatic conclusion that involves a dialogue between a serial killer, tormented by the Why The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find of mankind and himself for what he considers the injustices in both secular and divine laws, and a superficial, mischievous, morally-flawed, Methodist grandmother dressed as an old fashioned Southern lady.
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O' Connor (Summary and Review) - Minute Book Report
The grandmother, who would prefer to go to East Tennessee, informs the family that a violent criminal known as The Misfit is loose in Florida, but they do not change their plans. The grandmother secretly brings her cat in the car. They stop for lunch at Red Sammy's Famous Barbecue, and the grandmother and Red Sammy commiserate that the world is changing and "a good man is hard to find.
After lunch, the family begins driving again and the grandmother realizes they are near an old plantation she once visited. Wanting to see it again, she tells the children that the house has a secret panel and they clamor to go. Bailey reluctantly agrees. As they drive down a rough dirt road, the grandmother suddenly realizes that the house she is remembering is in Tennessee, not Georgia. Shocked and embarrassed by the realization, she accidentally kicks over her belongings, releasing the cat, which jumps onto Bailey's head and causes an accident.
A car slowly approaches them, and The Misfit and two young men get out. The grandmother recognizes him and says so. The two young men take Bailey and his son into the woods, and shots are heard. Then they take the mother, the daughter, and the baby into the woods. More shots are heard. Throughout, the grandmother pleads for her life, telling The Misfit she knows he's a good man and entreating him to pray.
He engages her in a discussion about goodness, Jesus, and crime and punishment. She touches his shoulder, saying, "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children! The grandmother's definition of what it means to be "good" is symbolized by her very proper and coordinated traveling outfit. O'Connor writes:. The grandmother is clearly concerned with appearances above all else. In this hypothetical accident, she worries not about her death or the deaths of her family members, but about strangers' opinions of her.
She also demonstrates no concern for the state of her soul at the time of her imagined death, but we think that's because she's operating under the assumption that her soul is already as pristine as her "navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim. She continues to cling to superficial definitions of goodness as she pleads with The Misfit. She entreats him not to shoot "a lady," as if not murdering someone is just a question of etiquette. And she reassures him that she can tell he's "not a bit common," as if lineage is somehow correlated with morality. Even The Misfit himself knows enough to recognize that he "ain't a good man," even if he "ain't the worst in the world neither. After the accident, the grandmother's beliefs begin to fall apart just like her hat, "still pinned to her head but the broken front brim standing up at a jaunty angle and the violet spray hanging off the side.
O'Connor tells us that as Bailey is led into the woods, the grandmother:. The things she has thought were important are failing her , falling uselessly around her, and she now has to scramble to find something to replace them. The irony in this particular situation could send chills to the spine. It is like a statement that even seemingly innocent lies could cause an individual his or her own demise. It is important to note that the family and the grandmother had a very good reason to be extremely afraid of the Misfit.
Aside from the fact that he is an escaped criminal, if the Misfit leaves them alive, they could tell the police of him and cause his capture. As a consequence of the situation, the Misfit also had a very good reason to kill the family and the grandmother. The irony of this particular situation is just so intricately and at the same time beautifully designed by the author. During the high-tension middle portion of the plot, the whole family along with the grandmother was under the threat of being brutally murdered by the Misfit. And in an attempt to save her life, the grandmother had devised an ingenious plan to save herself.
The irony of that scene could be immediately viewed as insulting, especially for the Misfit. He had already put the family under the threat of being murdered and now the grandmother is telling him that he is a good man? During the initial parts of the narrative, the grandmother says that she would not risk bringing her grandchildren near a person like the Misfit. The irony just grabs the readers to turn the pages more. It appears that the character of the grandmother is full of unpleasant ironies that make her easily a detestable character. Moreover, the Misfit had just come out of jail. He already knows what to expect of how the society would treat someone like him. There is no need to hide the truth of his situation behind a shroud of seemingly good-willed irony.
The irony that the grandmother had displayed in that particular situation would definitely make the readers scratch their heads. Even in the moment of desperation, the grandmother would still throw in ironic lines. The grandmother was in a sense putting the name of Jesus in vain. It was like the grandmother did not mean her request for help. It was more like she was blaming Jesus for what had transpired. From here we could already infer that the grandmother is incapable of being true to herself. That is why she is constantly using ironies to express herself. As one of the major themes of the story, ironies are interspersed throughout the whole course of the plot. The irony in this particular situation is understandably hard to locate at the first reading.
Basically, a nickelodeon is an apparatus that functions something like the more familiar jukebox machine. It would be important to note that a nickelodeon would only play a song once someone had put a nickel on it, thus the name. Interestingly, the mother of the children had put a dime on the nickelodeon, and it had started to play a melody. The irony of that particular situation is that something had worked even though there is something wrong in the procedure of using it. Although it could still be argued that this could be a lapse on the part of the author, it is just very unlikely. The unforgettable use of irony of the grandmother reinforces her retention into the minds of the readers. Moreover, there are so many instances in the story, even in the title that could only be described as ironic.
It's Pitty Sing who causes the car accident by leaping onto Bailey's neck when the grandmother accidentally releases him from the basket. Need a custom essay sample Magpies specially to meet your requirements? Bailey's wife is a nearly speechless woman described as a "young woman" having a face that was "as broad and innocent as a cabbage". After lunch, the family begins driving again and the grandmother realizes Why The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find are near an old plantation she once visited. Knowing that he is primary source of dependence for Setsuko after losing their mom, he takes Why The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find the responsibility in Skincare Self Concepts care of her.