A Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis

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“A Good Man is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor is a story about a grandmother who attempts to convince Bailey, her son, and his wife to take the family on trip to east Tennessee for vacation. As the trip progress, they end up meeting the Misfit, a wanted criminal who stumbles upon the family when their car crashed in the woods. Near the end of the story, the grandmother calls The Misfit her child and reaches out and touches him. The big question is, what does this mean when she touches him in the context of the story? O’Connor wrote the ending in mind and understanding that comes from her religious background, the Roman Catholic view. When the grandmother reaches out to touch The Misfit that is a sign that the grandmother has reach her ‘moment of grace’ - where god helps her understand and make her feel loved. This helps her understand that Jesus wanted everyone to love one another even if she had enemies, which make her feel compelled to love The Misfit. The grandmother seen more as selfish, and evil human, got a gift from God to feel such a deep feeling of love towards others. This moment of grace is key to the death of the Grandmother because of how the Misfit reacts to action which seems so exotic to him. The grandmother however, saved by her sins in this moment where she dies peacefully learns how to grow with the help of God into someone she feels happy with.…show more content…
The Misfit shows that he recognizes her acts of goodwill, but repels it like if a someone were to attack him. This changed The Misfit, making him say she would have been a good woman if he’d been there all her life to shoot her would have gave him “no real pleasure in life.” Even though he stated “meanness” is the only pleasure in life. This shows us that The Misfit him had a moment of grace had affected him as well. This could possible change The Misfit giving a sense of change in who he really
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