Introduction
Flannery O’Conner depicts a southern household in her novel “A Good Man is Hard to Find," a conflict on where to travel for a holiday. The grandmother, one of the main characters in the story, recalls the experiences in the plantation in the south in her good old days. The grandmother is presented as a grotesque character from the onset of the story with her memories of the old south in her early days defining her character. However, the novel presents all the family members as grotesque members as children show a lack of manners and rudeness, especially when addressing their grandmother. The father, Mr. Bailey, is presented as a character with intense anger while the mother shows a lack of character or personality (OConnor, F). The novel revolves around the family travel trip characterized by familial conflicts, morality, and goodness. Throughout the novel, the themes of goodness and grace are denoted with O'Conner using the phrase "good man" in the title of the novel. However, the definition of the phrase varies based on the context of use.
Regarding O'Conner, a good man may be good to another person only if the actions of the two concur. In this case, the moral of the actions is disregarded. However, God's grace is for everyone despite the magnitude of the sins committed. O'Conner features The Misfit, a character he uses to unfold his view of salvation and life as a message of the novel. This paper presents an exclusive literary analysis of the novel “A Good man is Hard to Find" based on the themes of goodness, violence, and grace. The paper will also highlight the message conveyed by the O’Connor based on the themes highlighted.
The use of a good man and the theme of goodness are misinterpreted in the novel. It is assumed that goodness is the virtue held by anyone. However, the definition of good is relatively different from the normal understanding of the illustration of the theme. The variation in the portrayal of the theme across the play makes the entire phrase meaningless. According to the play, the grandmother uses the phrase, good man, to refer to men. However, this definition is contradictory as not every man is good, but the meaning of good can be aligned to the expectations aligned and the adherence to the expectations. Grandmother perceives that a good man's actions should align with her expectations despite the moral underlining of the actions. The contradiction in the perception of good is illustrated by Red Sammy, a restaurant owner where the family stopped. According to Red Sammy, he allowed two men to purchase gasoline on credit based on their appearance. Red Sammy believed they appeared fit for credit but ended up failing to pay and therefore termed them untrustworthy. Nevertheless, the grandmother comforts him by asserting that he does so because he is a good man. “Because you’re a good man!” (O’Connor). It is evident that Red Sammy is easily manipulated, deceived, and his emotions and faith cloud his judgment. How does this ascertain how good he is? Nothing proves good in this case, but Grandmother insists on calling him a good man just to align with her definition of a good man.
The theme of goodness is also highlighted when Grandmother encounters The Misfit. She desperately calls The Misfit a good man and presents the argument of salvation with an effort of making the man see her as a woman. She blindly tells The Misfit that she knows he is a good man and can see it. How accurate is the statement? She clearly understands that The Misfit is a criminal on the loose but tries to convince him to be a good man. How do the two men turn out to be good men to Grandmother? She only refers to them as good men since they concur with her values and definition of good. In a real sense, the two men are not good at all.
Theme of Goodness
The theme of goodness is highlighted in the grandmother's story of her courtship with Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden. Teagarden was a good-looking man and is described as a gentleman. However, Grandmother could not marry him because he only brought her a watermelon on Saturdays (OConnor, F). What is the good in not marrying someone because he brings a watermelon on Saturday afternoons? She further states that she should have married Teagarden since he later bought a Coca-Cola store. She insists on the goodness in people, but her side is blinded by judgment and materialism. Goodness should be depicted by the actions and not the personal gains. When they encountered an accident, the encounter with the Misfit highlights the different understanding of goodness. Not everything that comes from good is good. The Misfit acknowledged the fineness in his mother and the purity in his father’s heart. How does that guarantee The Misfit is a good man?
Theme of Grace
The theme of grace is highlighted in various instances in the play. O’Conner highlights that grace is for everyone and is not limited to the righteous only. God grants grace to all His people despite their indulgence in sinful acts, which accounts for why God's grace bestows unlikely candidates. In the play “A Good Man is Hard to Find," the Misfit and grandmother are not spiritually upright. They both have weaknesses and flaws that render them not fit for God's grace. The grandmother is reflected as a liar whose lie leads them to the woods where they face their demise. She uses lies to make it exciting and intrigue the grandchildren to take the woods where she stated there was once a house with a secret panel. However, this was just an overstatement to make it seem exciting. In other instances, she is reflected as a controlling person. She wants entitlement to all decision-making believing she the rightful person to make judgments such as deciding who is good and instructing what to be done. She calls upon the Misfit to pray citing the help of Jesus if he prays. “If you would pray…Jesus would help you” (O'Connor). She tells Misfit to pray while she cannot come up with a prayer on her own. The prayer is meant for repentance, which the Misfit needs to embrace. What is the difference between the two? They are both not worth of grace, but grace is on their side to this end. She cries, calling for the name of Jesus, a turn of events that symbolizes that all humans are equal and are all worthy of God's Grace. The Misfit is presented as a murderer, but he reflects on it as not the real happiness he seeks. “It’s no real pleasure in life” (O'Connor).
Theme of Violence
The theme of violence is highlighted from the beginning of the play. Grandmother questions the idea of traveling to Florida with the criminal referred to as The Misfit at loose. When talking to Red Sammy, Grandmother reiterates the concept of crime and violence when mentioning the escape of The Misfit. Mrs. Red's questions if The Misfit will hesitate to visit them if he notices the two cents in the cash register. This statement indicates the rampant crime and violence in the novel. The encounter with the Misfit after the accident in the woods comes as a foreshadowing of the warning before they left for the trip. Although she did not expect to encounter The Misfit on their trip, she used the newspaper article to sway the family to change the destination of the holiday trip (Gale). The entire family succumbs to death in the hands of the Misfit, whose grandmother had questioned the morality of a person who drives his family to the direction of a criminal on the loose.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Misfit's experiences and the family under the influence of the grandmother highlight the different aspects of life. The message of morality, grace, and family conflicts are highlighted with family conflicts resulting in moral and spiritual lessons. The novel introduces the Misfit, a criminal on the loose in the introductory part, which comes out as a foreshadowing of the experiences which later fall the family. The themes of goodness, grace, crime, and violence are used to communicate the novel's message with goodness described in different perspectives. Goodness can be aligned to individual expectations of someone as cited in the novel by the character Red Sammy or the moral expectation, such as expectations of the grandmother for Misfit to spare her life. However, grace is cited as God's given and is bestowed to everyone regardless of the characters' sins. The theme of God's grace is illustrated through the grandmother and Misfit, who are not worthy of God's grace, but they have it. The theme of crime and violence is highlighted through the Misfit's actions, who finds delight in killing. The themes present a special message to the reader, citing what is expected of goodness, God's grace, and the connection to crime and violence. Through the themes, O'Connor elaborates her view of salvation, which is aligned to that of the Misfit.
