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Asnain Khan

Mr. G

English 4

14 October 2019

A Good Man is Hard to Find

As readers, whenever we read short stories we often consider various things that make

the story unique and insightful for us to read over and again. “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a

short story by Flannery O’Connor’s, is about a family that was heading out down from

Tennessee to Florida for a vacation. While Bailey bringing his family to Florida, the

grandmother doesn't appear to be excited about going. The grandmother, who was not excited

going along the family, referenced “The Misfit” in the newspaper is on the loose, which her

family didn't notice her story and overlooked her totally. The grandma confronted her definitive

demise as she met “The Misfit” and surrendered to her death. In this story, we consider different

ways that Flannery O’Connor’s writing style and techniques in the story particularly point of

view, theme, diction, tone, and settings that made it unique.

Whenever we read different sorts of writing especially short stories, we regularly

consider the various perspectives that make the story extraordinary and how the author exhibits

the story. The way the story was composed by O’Connor was specifically in the third person

point of view with constrained omniscient. The reason that she composed the story this way is

that the story is focused independently with the Grandmother. The author chose the point of view

of the grandma because she has some knowledge, which is prepared, accessible to begin to get to

it legitimately. For instance, the Grandmother starts to question her child, Bailey, that, “Yes and
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what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, caught you?” (O’Connor). by asking this question

to Bailey, it would show us that the Grandmother may have some information about this

criminal. However, because of the restricted knowledge about the Misfit as much as the

Grandmother would know it from the outside. We may assume that the author is foreshadowing

that will eventually face the “unknown” person called, “The Misfit.”

Besides the point of view perspective of the story, the diction of the words that character

conveyed the dialogue in the story, particularly with The Grandmother. The author’s delivery of

the dialogue from the Grandmother was purposeful and simple to the point since she wants us,

readers, to have more focus on the dialogue of the main and supporting characters, rather than

the details of the characters. Another component that is exceptionally distinct in the writing style

of Flannery O’Connor is that the way in which she writes her sentences in the story is fairly

short, plain and straightforward because it was done intentionally to make it simple. For instance,

in the middle of the story, the author composed the portrayal of the Grandmother’s action as,

“The old lady settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves and putting them up

with her purse on the shelf in front of the back window” (O’Connor). O’Connor’s writing style is

very consistent and effective in the story since she wants the narrator of the story to convey the

story in a clean, evident and descriptive way that compliments her writing of the short story.

Moreover, other than the diction of the language that was conveyed in the story, the tone of the

diction that is delivered in the dialogue of the story is altogether different and exceptional in

most short stories.

The story is set in the South. The reason why it was was set in the South was the

background of the author and the historical situation that was set at that time. The author makes a
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few references to the various landmarks such as the Stone Mountains in Georgia. In the story,

John Wesley made a deprecating reference of both states as, “Tennessee is just a hillbilly

dumping ground, and Georgia is a lousy state too” (O’Connor). This would suggest that there is

some ill will towards these two states that John Wesley would make this expostulating joke since

he disdains both Tennessee and Georgia. Another case of the setting that O’Connor shows in the

story is in the plantation. The reason why she put the Plantation in the story is because of two

things, one of every a historical sense the plantation has an enormous part of land and they have

the graveyard along grounds of the plantation and two, the plantation is utilized in the story as an

anticipating of the Grandmother which it gives us the clue the Grandmother would succumb her

demise at the grounds of the plantation because of “the Misfit.”

“A Good Man is Hard to Find,” has surpassed on different levels of examining the story

from the development of the character, word diction, and tone of the language that is presented in

the story and furthermore the selection of settings that gives us readers the imagination of what

to expect in the story. As readers, we learn alternate perspectives about this story and how it

influences our thoughts and understanding that encompasses us.

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