Estime1

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor is one of her best known short stories. This story mainly focuses on a selfish, manipulating grandmother that will try to do anything to get her way. One critic Stephen Bandy states that OConnor did not exactly defend the grandmothers selfish behavior; but the write described this final gesture as the action of grace in the grandmothers soul (qtd. in Mystery and Manners 113). However, I think that from the very beginning to the very end the grandmother was being deceitful and selfish. The story portrays the grandmother as a selfish and self-centered old lady that will do and say anything to get what she wants and will not let anyone get in the way. There are many details in the story that foreshadowed the death of the grandmother and her family. For instance, when they were driving they passed a cotton field with five or six graves. Kathleen Wilson express that The Grandmother plans her outfit with an eye toward tragedy. From the way that the grandmother was describe in the beginning readers can infer that something terrible was going to happen. The grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. (OConnor 332)

Estime2 Arthur Kinney describes the grandmother as being sneaky. She deceives her son, Bailey and managed to sneak the cat into the car after he told her not to bring the cat. Toward the end of the story, the cat ended up causing the accident by leaping in to bailey lap. The grandmother was so certain in trying to change the familys vacation destination; she tried to manipulate Bailey telling him all kind of different things for them to go to Tennessee instead of Florida. One of the things that she said to Bailey was this as she was reading the newspaper, Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did OConnor 331). Kinney also goes on and says everything she does is centered on her own satisfaction, such as protecting the cat, or her own future pleasure, such as recording mileage so as to center later conversation on her special knowledge. The grandmothers own selfishness caused the whole familys deaths. On the way she suddenly remember a plantation house she once visited. She lied saying there was a secret panel in this house (OConnor 335) so bailey could take her. She used the children as an excuse to make bailey to there, because the children started screaming that they wanted to go there. The grandmother also said that it would be very educational for them (OConnor 335). The grandmother always wants to be right. Even though she realized that it was not the place where the plantation was, she

Estime3 didnt say anything. If she had said something from the beginning, they would not have had an accident in the first place. She was too selfish and was always thinking about herself to admit anything. The grandmothers selfish personality was very clear towards the end when she came face to face with the Misfit. When the grandmother notices that one of the men that came to help them was the Misfit, she called him out. When she saw that he had a gun she begins to cry and said to the Misfit you wouldnt shoot a lady, would you (OConnor 337). It was right there at that moment her true colors begin to show. The moment she felt like she was in danger she claimed that she was a Christian. She was persistent in telling the misfit a lot of things so she wouldnt get killed. She said to the Misfit I know youre a good man. You dont look like a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from a nice family (OConnor 337). She really tried to manipulate the Misfit to get on his good side, but it did not work with him. As she heard more and more gunshots she continually says I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give you all the money I've got!" (OConnor 340). Not once did she beg the misfit to not kill her family, she could have at least begged for the childrens lives. Critic Arthur Bethea express that the grandmother's role as gracebringer is by now a received idea, largely because the author said it is so. I dont think that most critics would say that the final moment she had a moment of grace, if the author herself didnt say it was. I think that she was trying to manipulate the Misfit the whole time, saying to him "Why you're

Estime4 one of my babies. You're one of my own children (OConnor 341). The grandmother remained self-serving and self-centered till the very end of the story. She tried to justify her demands by persuading the people around her that her way is the best and only way, but in the end whatever she tried it didnt work. Like bandy says all her ruses, so dependable in the past, have failed. Work Cited A r t h u r , B e t h e a . " O ' C o n n o r ' s A G o o d M a n I s H a r d t o Fi n d . " E x p l i c a t o r 2 0 0 6 . We b . 1 3 O c t . 2 0 1 0 . G a l e V i r t u a l Re f e re n c e L i b r a r y. K i n n e y , A r t h u r. " A G o o d M a n i s H a r d t o Fi n d b y F l a n n e r y o'conor 1995." Reference Guide for Short Fiction.ed. 1 9 9 9 . 8 4 1 - 8 4 2 . We b . 1 3 O c t . 2 0 1 0 . G a l e V i r t u a l Reference Library. 2006. McMahan Elizabeth, Susan Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Literature and the Writing Process 9th ed. 2007. Reprint. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 331-341. Print. S t e p h e n , B a n d y. " O n e o f M y B a b i e s : T h e M i s f i t a n d T h e G r a n d m o t h e r. " s t u d i e s i n s h o r t f i c t i o n 3 3 . 1 1 0 7 . We b . 1 3 Oct. 2010. Literary Reference Center. W i l s o n , K a t h l e e n . " A G o o d M a n I s H a r d t o Fi n d . " S h o r t S t o r i e s f o r S t u d e n t s 2 . 1 9 9 7 . 9 7 - 1 4 4 . We b . 1 3 O c t . 2 0 1 0 . G a l e Virtual Reference Library.

Estime5