Introduction
O’Connor’s literature has achieved mass appeal over the years. Her stories are a reflection of the society that she lived in, well captured and narrated, thus remaining relevant over the years. The story of “A Good Man is Hard to find” raises the question of good vs. evil and the possibility of divine intervention. On the other hand, his narration of “Everything That Rises Must Converge” covers a period of racial divide and stereotyping. People were judged by the traditional stereotype and ethnic group. Even though the stories cover different social issues, similarities exist in how the characters are affected. The comparison explores the similarities and differences between the two narrations, focusing more on gender, race, control issues, and the changing times.
Similarities Between the Narrations
Based on the two stories, O’Connor has a predictable trend on the plot. Both stories start with a journey to be undertaken. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the grandmother is seen not so much interested in the journey. On the other hand, “Everything That Rises Must Converge” shows Julian was required to take the Mother at the Y even though he had nothing to do at the place. The lack of interest in the journey is seen to have detrimental outcomes. The grandmother carries along her cat that later on causes an accident. On the other hand, Julian is determined to prove that he isn’t racist, forcing conversations with strangers who are less interested in him.
Both stories have a tragic ending. From the start, the author gives a smooth narration of the events. The plot triggers the reader to look forward to an end that converges with the title of the story. However, the death of the characters catches the reader by surprise. In, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." The reader expects that the grandmother would be saved as she tried her best to convince the Misfit that he is not bad after all. The utterances, “Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" (O’Connor and Frederick 32) are ironic. The reader expects that with the words; the Misfit would soften, but he kills the grandmother. On the other hand, the Julian’s’ mother died after an attempt to give a penny to a black child is rejected. “…and she held out the coin, which shone bronze in the dim light. The huge woman turned and for a moment stood, her shoulders lifted and her face frozen with frustrated rage, and stared at Julian’s mother.” (O’Connor 9). The characters in both stories may have had clear intentions but the result is their tragic deaths.
The willingness to control others is evident throughout both stories. The story of a good man is hard to find opens up with the grandmother convincing her son that there is a misfit on the loose. The grandmother has selfish desires, where she intends to visit Tennessee instead of Florida. O’Connor states, “She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee, and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey's mind" (O’Connor and Frederick 1). Later on in their journey, the grandmother convinces Bailey to join a dirt road to see her favorite house. “It would be very educational for them, the grandmother murmured.” With this, she was able to convince her son to join the road despite him not wanting to. Julian and her mother exercise some form of control over each other. In most cases, Julian tells his mother what to do. For instance, he commands her to wear her hat to the Y. after alighting from the bus; Julian tries to convince the mother not to give a penny to the black child.
Common ground between the two stories is on how they agree that the world is messed up. Red Sammy states that he gave credit to young guys who never cleared it. The grandmother laments that a Nigger boy ate her watermelon when he saw the initials E.A.T on it. Julian’s attempt to strike a conversation with a stranger on the bus is a self-gratification attempt. His mother was straightforward that she feared traveling with people of color. However, she was honest about it even though she may have appeared racist.
Differences Between the Stories
The issue of racism is evident in both stories. However, the way that it is expressed differs and comes from the least expected person. In “A good man is hard to find,” the grandmother is expected to be a role model but uses racist terminology to define an innocent bystander. By stating, "Little niggers in the country don't have things as we do" (O’Connor and Frederick 9). She sets bad precedence where the young learn that they can use demeaning words to describe others. On the contrary, Jasmines’ mother is seen to be loving and caring to people of other races. When a black child sat next to her, she smiled and thought that he was cute. “…Isn’t he cute? Julian's mother said to the woman with the protruding teeth” (O’Connor 8). The fact that she died after her penny was rejected shows the pain she had to deal with after her attempt to connect races failed. Even though she may have been racist, she always kept it to herself.
The idea of misfits is different in the two stories. In "A Good Man," the misfits happen to be the jailbirds who are in the newspapers. For them, they are outright evil and they end up killing a family that was on vacation. The main culprit also confesses not being a good man. "Nome, I ain't a good man, The Misfit said after a second as if he had considered her statement carefully"(O’Connor and Frederick 25). In this case, the Misfit is a killer who knows his place. On the contrary, Jasmin is the Misfit in the other story. Even though he does no evil, he is considered a failure as compared to other men in his family. His great grandfather was a former governor of the State; the grandfather was a prosperous landowner while he sold typewriters for a living even though he had been to college. While still maintaining the idea of misfits, a reader can juxtapose the stories and gain an understanding of the different views of misfits among classes.
The old south vs. the new south brings nostalgic feelings in both stories. In "a good man," the grandmother appreciates the changes that have happened. She is happy that the plantations went with the wind, and thus people are no longer working as slaves. When asked by the grandson where the plantations are, she responds, “Gone with the Wind, said the grandmother. Ha. Ha." (O’Connor and Frederick 10) The laughter depicts a tone of appreciation for the changes. On the contrary, Jasmins’ mother is not happy with the changes. She clinches on the family's history of success to judge others even though they may be at the same level. Coming from a family that owned two hundred slaves, Jasmin is not happy that they live in a run-down neighborhood.
Conclusion
O'Connor's literature covers a broad range of subjects with deeply ingrained meanings. Despite the two stories having completely different plots, a reader can find common ground to analyze them. The similarities or differences can be viewed from different perspectives expanding the possible ways to interpret them. From the review, common themes such as obsessive control issues, misfits, race, and identity help represent O'Connor's perspective and society as a whole. The use of the author’s narrations is essential in determining society's view of life back then. From them, it is evident that the world may be worsening day by day.
