A Good Man Is Hard To Find Literary Analysis

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A Good Man Is Hard to Find – Not Death In the story, “A good Man Is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, an old woman’s attempt to avoid a trip to Florida and take a trip down memory lane ends up in tragedy for not only the old woman but her son, his wife and grandkids. Flannery reveals points in this old woman’s life that seem develop into a pattern where she thinks more of herself and her needs than others in her life. The reasons the old lady gives her son to avoid going to Florida are just the beginning of times she is more concerned with her own needs. A current event in a newspaper serves as the first excuse. The old lady says excitedly, “Now look here, Bailey,” she said, “see here, read this,” and she stood with one hand on her thin…show more content…
The grandmother says, “She would have done well to marry Mr. Teargarden because he was a gentleman and had bought Coca- Cola stock when it first came out and that he had died only a few years ago, a very wealthy man.” (Charters 1044) Further demonstrating how selfish she really is and has been her entire…show more content…
“His voice seemed about to crack and the grandmothers head cleared for an instant. She said the mans face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, “Why you are one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Then he put his gun down on the ground and took off his glasses and began to clean them. Hiram and Bobby Lee returned from the woods and stood over the ditch, looking down at the grandmother who half sat and half lay in a puddle of blood with her legs crossed under her like a child’s face smiling up at the cloudless sky.” (Charters 1052-53) What started out as a lie to avoid a trip ends up being the exact way that she dies. Flannery’s use of irony brings about a bit of surprise in the end as the reader does not anticipate a murder
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