Who doesn’t wish to be a good person? Being good could bring person to happiness, delight, faith, and grace. “A Very good Man Is difficult to Find” by Flannery OConnor, yet , reveals a satiric reality in which very few people understand fully the fundamental which means of being “a good person. ” This short story is one of the most well-known example of The southern part of Gothic materials. By concentrating on strange occasions, local color, and odd characters, O’Connor successfully describes the difference and similarity with the two primary character’s meaning code. Even though the grandmother and Misfit possess contrasting sagesse and principles, both find it difficult to discover their own righteousness which is buried deeply under their very own flaws. In “A Great Man Is difficult to Find, inches O’Connor uses many fictional devices including conflict, meaning, foreshadowing, and irony to unfold the great and bad in the history.
Conflict is a key means of managing the whole story, which starts with the disagreement between the grandma and the remaining portion of the family. The readers might be astonished by the fact that no one in the family likes you the grandmother or her opinions, even the children present no respect for her at all. O’Connor force the readers to question themselves: What has got the grandmother completed be treated that way? The grandmother starts out to the viewers as “a harmless, busybody, utterly self-absorbed but also amusing” (Bandy, 957). Nevertheless , as the story unfolds, the grandmother eventually appears to be a selfish, unethical, and not “good” person. The central conflict is the inner conflict of the grandmother, who also blindly interprets herself better than others. Her mistaken values as being very good and continuously pursuing her own conscience are what finally ruin the entire family. By taking them down to the incorrect road and indirectly triggering the accident, the grandma is the one that brings the family for the Misfit. Furthermore, by considering good persons always adhere to their notion, the granny wildly tells the Misfit she recognizes him which ultimately gets her family members into threat. The granny proudly overdresses for the trip with “her collars and cuffs were white-colored organdy trimmed with wide lace and at her necklace the girl had pinned a magenta spray of cloth violets made up of a sachet” (O’Connor 941). The appearance of becoming a lady is the central virtue that she more than likely want to pay anything to exchange that. Being a light lady means power and superior, as a result, she non-stop passes judgements on others. By arrogantly talking about her past, the grandmother symbolizes an classical and upper-class Southern attitude.
One of the interesting area of the story is when she tries to tell John Wesley to be even more respectful to his indigenous state while others. Immediately, the grandmother uncovers her actual self like a judgemental female by directed at the “cute little pickaninny” on the road and pleases her grandchildren using a watermelon history in which a “nigger boy” devoured it (O’Connor 942). At this moment, it is quite apparent that the grandmother “is stuffed with the bias of her class and her time” (Bandy 957). Repetitive utilization of the word “good” is representational as it shows the way the grandmother views on other folks. She can be applied the label “good” indiscriminately to anyone so long as their requirement align with her very own. For example , she considers Reddish colored Sammy while “a great man” because he blindly concentration people, the lady then, demands the Misfit is also “a good man” because, the lady reasons, he wouldn’t take a lady. Finally, she hardly ever begs the Misfit to spare her family, in fact , the only person she cares about is very little. On the surface, the granny is described as a “good” person with her solid faith in God. The sins sit within her, however , healthy diet her as an bad woman by her own beliefs.
Not only issue but likewise symbolism and foreshadowing happen to be prominent narrative devices of the entire tale. O’Connor gets the readers to believe and predict as the lady reveals portents of trouble one by one. From the beginning, the grandmother warns her family about the Misfit, that is an escaped conflict, heading his way towards California. Following her conscience, the grandmother persuades her kid not to “take [his] kids in any path with a lawbreaker like that aloose in it” (O’Connor, 940). The apparently ridiculous warning signals a confrontation while using Misfit is definitely inevitable. Second, the granny dresses in such a way as if she has prepared for her own death. She properly put on her Sunday best so that “anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know simultaneously that the lady was a lady” (O’Connor, 941). As the story unfolds, O’Connor continues to reveal number of life-versus-death signs which usually prepare your readers for the upcoming tragedy. While the family is on their way to California, they complete the cotton field with five or six tragique which symbolize exactly the number of individuals in the car. The grandmother points and brings up they hailed from an old plantation which has “gone with the Wind” as it recalls a long gone destruction from the Old Southern (O’Connor 941). Finally, as the Misfit’s car techniques the relatives, it is identified as a “big black batter hearse-like automobile” (O’Connor, 945). A hearse is a vehicle that holds coffins which will foreshadows the faith with the family even before the Misfit gets out of your car. One of many symbol in “A very good man is hard to find” is the grandmother’s hat. The hat which will she placed on for the sole purpose of as being a lady, is a symbol of her incorrect moral code. Her only concern is a appearance being a Southern lady, ironically, it can even more important with her than her own lifestyle and even her children’s. The hat symbolizes her selfishness and vulnerable moral dedication. While facing the Misfit, the grandmother lets her hat show up to the surface as the girl recognizes her self-conception while goodness and purity is known as a big level flaw.
O’Connor carefully incorporates various literary devices to accomplish the main theme of “A good guy is hard to find”, and irony is one of the most important equipment which allows the ending of the storyline successful. Dramatic irony occurs when a figure fails to acknowledge what is apparent to the target audience. All through the account, the grandmother’s perception of herself as well as the society are greatly altered. She thinks herself being a Southern excellence and amazing benefits in which the viewers can every disagree moreover she goes judgment upon others, blames Europe to get the the losing of good persons, manipulates her family, and mistakenly blurts out that she recognizes the Misfit. Only when facing the Misfit and fatality, the grandmother’s moral code is finally proved to be insubstantial and illusory. In contrast, the Misfit can be viewed a bad guy as he and his men unrepentantly murder the whole family. However , he is the only personality in the history who has a regular philosophy that everyone else apparently lack. He’s self-aware and carefully views his action as well as his experiences is obviously, he understands “[He’s] not a good man, although [he’s] not really the most severe either” (O’Connor 949). The Misfit relies upon his meaning code to steer his actions, whereas, the grandmother needs to turn back with her own philosophy in attempt save their self. The story can be described as struggle from the two main characters who have are trying discover their own ways to righteousness. The ultimate irony is usually when the evil man, the Misfit, mirrors the grandma who the girl really is, a sinner. Recognizing her very own mistakes and understanding how stressed and puzzled the Misfit is, the grandmother reaches out and touches him calling: “Why youre one of my infants. Youre one among my own children” (O’Connor 950). Throughout the entire story, it seems like the grandma finally will something important and significant as she’s showing compassion and understanding with others. Anything becomes clear to her right now, she relizes “even in her limited way, that she is responsible for the man ahead of her and joined him by connections of kinship” (O’Connor 952). The act of righteousness, however , is definitely rewarded simply by three principal points on her upper body.
“A Good Person Is Hard to Find” leaves many readers to feel unsatisfied with the death of an innocent friends and family. However , the story’s stopping brings up expect, both main characters most certainly recognize one another imperfection. Toward her fatality, the grandma finally redeems herself by causing a right gesture and reaching out to the Misfit. She dead with a smile a her face. The Misfit likewise changes from claiming previously “no satisfaction but meanness” to saying that it is not any pleasure is obviously by getting rid of. There is hope that the Misfit could be altered and be great. By incorporating various literary devices, O’Connor reveals that evil and great can come coming from many guidelines, and perception can be a element causing person to act in different ways. The story shows that anyone can be changed and saved simply by God’s elegance, even a bad guy.
Function cited
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Gentleman Is Hard to look for. ” Arguing about Literature, edited simply by John Schilb and Steve Clifford, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp 939-951O’Connor, Flannery. “From Mystery and Manners. inch Arguing about Literature, modified by David Schilb and John Clifford, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp 951-952Bandy, Stephen. “From “One of My own Babies”, The Misfit plus the Grandmother. inches Arguing about Literature, modified by Ruben Schilb and John Clifford, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp 956-959
