A Good Man Is Hard to Find free essay sample

One might think that Grandmothers are sweet and loving, and often innocent due to their advanced age and condition. We, as society, think of them as great examples of people that radiate love, mentors, and defenders of morality and good manners. However, this is not the case in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor. As the story unfolds, her personality reflects that hidden evil we all carry inside and how detouring on a route takes a whole family to face disastrous consequences, yet one person finds redemption from that evil. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a story that symbolizes redemption, because there is a sinner, there is a journey, and there is redemption. In our society we tend to minimize, and sometimes erase the word â€Å"sin† because, for the most part, it bothers people’s conscience. Although the word â€Å"sin† is not explicitly exposed in the story A Good Man is Hard to Find, the action and consequences of sin are vividly present throughout the story, in all the characters, especially the Grandmother. What does he mean by this, and how is he correct-or incorrect-in his assessment? A Good Man Is Hard To Find, a short story, written by Flannery O Connor, is set in Atlanta and details the story of a family who are murdered by three psychopaths and the fate of the who didnt wanted to go to Florida for vacation instead, she wanted to visit some of her relatives in east Tennesse but the bad luck follows her at her every turn and puts an end to her clan. As the Misfit says at the end of the story, She would of been a good women if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life (290). She had a son named Bailey, who she used to live with. Bailey, had a wife, which according to the grandmother wasnt a real women. But rather, she was a lady, as she wore slacks and had tied her hair with a green head-kerchief that pointed on the top like rabbits ears. They had a eight year old chubby boy with glasses, John Wesley and a little girl named June Star and a small baby. The grandmother was trying to change Baileys mind every second she got the chance to. As grandma was reading a Journal in the newspaper that a prisoner who called himself, the Misfit was free from the jail and was heading towards Florida, she tried to convence Bailey not to go to Florida but Bailey didnt spoke a word. She even tried telling the childrens mother but she intended not to hear her. The next morning, grandma was the first one to get in the car with her hippopotamus head like suitcase, and under which was a basket with, Pitty Sing, her cat. She planed not to keep the cat at home for she would miss her too much. Then, the grandmother sat at the back of their car inbetween John Wesley and June Star and Briley drove the car with his wife and a baby in the front seat. The grandmother sat cozily removing her white gloves and putting them back on her purse. She had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a navy blue dress with a small white dot imprinted on it while the childrens mother still had that slacks and the head-kerchief around her head with the baby on her arms. The grandma thought to herself that it was going to be a good day for driving as the weather was pleasant and she warned Bailey that the speed limit was fifty-five miles an hour. She pointed out the decor of the surroundings as the childrens mother was taking a nap with the baby. John Wesley, was told his dad, Lets go fast as we dont have to look at it much and Tennessee was a hillbilly dumping ground and Georgia was a lousy state and the grandmother added that, one isnt suppose to talk about their nation in that way. The chindern in her time were were more respectful of their nation, partents and everything else. Then, grandma told them a story about a good looking gentleman, Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden from Georgia, who used to bring her a watermelon every saturday with his initials carved in. The children made fun of it and they stopped at the Tower for barbecued sand-wich. This quotation, at the end of the story, reveals the Misfit’s understanding of what has occurred in the grandmother’s final moments, and he seems to recognize two things about her. First, he fully understands that despite her obvious belief in her moral superiority—which she conveys through her self-proclaimed identification as a â€Å"lady† and religious instruction—the grandmother is not, in fact, a good woman. She is flawed and weak, and her age grants her no particular rights for respect or reverence. Second, the Misfit recognizes that when facing death, the grandmother has the capacity to be a good woman. In her final moments, she foregoes the moral high ground she’d staunchly held and instead embraces her and the Misfit’s common humanity. The Misfit observes this shift and seems to realize what it means: if the grandmother could have lived her life at gunpoint, so to speak, she could have gained the self-awareness and compassion that she’d lacked.