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Caden Matthews

ACP Literature L202

Mrs. Hudkins

1 June 2021

A Good Society Is Hard to Find

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor describes a family trip gone

wrong due to the deceptive Grandmother. This culminates in the execution of the family by the

Misfit, a criminal on the run. Later, O’Connor published Mystery and Manners, which included

her commentary on her story. In this commentary, she elaborates on the Grandmother’s final

action before her death and the violent nature of the story. While it may initially appear that The

Misfit is the primary antagonist of the story, O’Connor may indicate that this title would actually

belong to the grandmother; furthermore, she may also highlight the importance of the characters

who are not antagonistic.

Despite the Misfit acting as a traditional antagonist during the end of the story, the

Grandmother is described as being less capable of grace than the Misfit (“From Mystery” 1186).

This implication that the Misfit is capable of grace begins to indicate that he may not be as

antagonistic as initially believed to be. The Misfit also appears to not show enjoyment about

killing the grandmother; he states, “It’s no real pleasure in life” (“A Good Man” 1186). In

addition to this lack of enjoyment, the Misfit also seems to feel sadness regarding his killing of

the Grandmother. This is due to his eyes being described as red-rimmed, a sign of crying (“A

Good Man” 1185). However, it should be noted that the Misfit does still appear to believe that

his action was justified or possibly even necessary. This is due to the Misfit implying that in the

Grandmother’s final moments, she was a good woman. This would indicate that the Misfit
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actually seems to care about the Grandmother and wants her to be a good woman. This does not

seem to be something a true antagonist would care about.

The Grandmother, on the other hand, is shown to be incredibly callous to those she sees

as lesser than herself. For example, when seeing an African American boy standing outside of a

shack, the Grandmother states that she would want to make a picture of it (“A Good Man” 1176).

This indicates that she views the boy as more of a spectacle than a human. This lack of empathy

for the vulnerable in society is a more antagonistic attitude than what the Misfit displays. The

Grandmother is also incredibly deceptive to her family, the people she is supposed to love the

most. She lies constantly throughout the story, which culminates with her lies, about both the cat

and the plantation, causing the car crash. She makes matters even worse after the crash by

pointing out that the Misfit is the Misfit (“A Good Man” 1181). It is implied from this that the

Misfit would not have killed the family if his identity were not revealed. This would seem to

indicate that his killing of the family is less so due to malice and more so due to

self-preservation. On the other hand, the actions of the Grandmother do not carry the same

perceived necessity. Her lies in the first half of the story are not made to protect herself. It

appears that the Grandmother is simply lying because she feels no remorse for doing so. This

would indicate that the Grandmother acts more antagonistically than the Misfit.

The importance of whom the title of “primary antagonist” is assigned to is that it serves

as the basis for a social commentary. O’Connor may be attempting to make a claim regarding

implicit and explicit “evil.” In order to more rigorously define these rather broad terms, “explicit

evil” will refer to evil that is pointed out and condemned by society, and “implicit evil” will refer

to evil that is either unnoticed by society or evil that society is complicit in. The Misfit, as his

name implies, is symbolic of explicit evil; whereas, the Grandmother is symbolic of implicit evil.
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This is highlighted by a quote from the Misfit; he states, “Does it seem right to you, lady, that

one is punished a heap and another ain’t punished at all?” (“A Good Man” 1185). This

dichotomy of punished and unpunished wrongs shows how society punishes only certain

categories of evil. This could be due to the fact that societies may not recognize the evils they are

committing. This is supported by O’Connor; she states, “. . . She realizes, even in her limited

way, that she is responsible for the man before her. . .” (“From Mystery” 1187). The fact that the

Grandmother does not realize that she is guilty until the end of the story indicates that those,

society, involved in implicit evil do not necessarily realize that what they are doing is wrong.

This is precisely why implicit evil is far more dangerous than explicit evil. Explicit evil can be

pinpointed and addressed; implicit evil remains unnoticed so long as no outside factors cause

introspection.

However, the Grandmother is not the only character that can be symbolic of implicit evil.

It could be argued that most of the family is actually quite similar to the Grandmother in regard

to their subconscious refusal to feel guilt for their actions. In fact, the Grandmother will call out

these acts despite not noticing her own. The Grandmother says, “Aren’t you ashamed?” in

response to her granddaughter making a rude comment toward Red Sam’s wife (“A Good Man”

1178). While this action of calling out this act would seem to contradict the idea that the rest of

the family can represent implicit evil, the second condition for implicit evil is met. The “evil” is

noticed, but the Grandmother does not do anything about it other than pointing it out. This lack

of true action would seem to indicate that the Grandmother is not pointing out the evil in order to

contribute to the betterment of the world but is instead pointing it out in order to feel better about

herself.
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The only member of the family that can not be shown to act antagonistically is the baby.

This is important due to what babies symbolize; having just recently entered the world, babies

are symbolic of purity. This symbolic nature of the baby is supported by O’Connor. She states,

“When a child draws, he doesn’t intend to distort but to set down exactly what he sees. . .”

(“From Mystery” 1187). This quote shows that young children have not yet been tainted by the

society they are in. However, shockingly, the baby is killed along with the other members of the

family (“A Good Man” 1185). This would seem to indicate that society, complicit in certain

forms of evil, drags the pure down with it. This could be suggesting that society develops a

perpetual cycle of implicit evil; the evil done by society ends up tarnishing the pure who are

necessary to address the evil that society is complicit in.

Another character that may be classified as not antagonistic would be Red Sammy’s wife.

Throughout the course of the story, she never acts in the callous way that the family or her

husband acts. However, a possible interpretation could indicate that she is simply just better at

hiding her antagonism. The source of this interpretation is her response to a rude comment June

makes; Red Sammy’s wife says, “Ain’t she cute?” (“A Good Man” 1178). This response could

be interpreted as sarcastic and an insult. If this interpretation holds, then the role of the baby as

the only beacon of purity within this story is highlighted further. If this interpretation does not

hold, then there exists a second example of someone who is pure. Similarly to the baby, Red

Sammy’s wife is treated in a negative manner despite her potential non-antagonistic status. This

is shown in June’s comment as well as the way she is treated by her husband. This ties into the

idea that those who are not complicit in society’s evil are just as if not more mistreated than those

who are engaging in evil. Furthermore, the way the Grandmother views Red Sammy and his wife

is integral to understanding the overarching societal commentary.

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In order for the Grandmother’s views to be contextualized to its fullest, an equivalence

relation between the Grandmother and society must be found. The first cornerstone of this

analogy is the Grandmother’s age and familial role. As an elderly person and overseer of the

family, the Grandmother maintains traditional ideals as does society. Secondly, the

Grandmother’s (self-appointed) role as a moral arbitrator relates to the way society views ideas

which are not commonplace. Finally, the Grandmother acts in a way which furthers her own

interests with complete disregard for the well-being of others; it could be argued that society, as

it is portrayed in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” partakes in this same selfish lifestyle. Now that

the Grandmother has been shown to be similar to society, her interaction with Red Sammy can

be placed in the commentary. The Grandmother honors Red Sammy by calling him a “good

man” (“A Good Man” 1178). Despite being less antagonistic than Red Sammy, his wife does not

receive any comments of this nature from the Grandma. This would seem to indicate that society

honors those who are complicit in its antagonism over those who are pure.

While this may seem bleak, O’Connor would indicate that not all hope is lost. When

describing the Grandmother’s final gesture, O’Connor describes her as not being “altogether

bad” (“From Mystery” 1187). Since the Grandmother is symbolic of society, it would follow that

society is also not “altogether bad.” This means that given the right conditions, society is also

capable of internally addressing its wrongs. The Misfit states, “She would of been a good

woman. . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (“A Good Man”

1186). Ultimately, the social commentary found within “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” arrives at

the conclusion that while society currently mistreats those who are good, society will eventually

change for the better once an external force places pressure upon the society.
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Works Cited

O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology

for Readers and Writers, compiled by John Schilb and John Clifford, 6th ed., Bedford /

St. Martin’s. 2015, pp. 1173-1186.

O’Connor, Flannery. “From Mystery and Manners.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for

Readers and Writers, compiled by John Schilb and John Clifford, 6th ed., Bedford / St.

Martin’s. 2015, pp. 1186-1187.