Introduction for an essay

The past plays a large role in “ A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, as well as in “A Good
Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. Both short stories involve women who bring up and
sometimes focus on the past and how the world used to be. one tale is about a grandmother
and her family brutally murdered by a coldhearted killer, and the other tale is about a
lady who murders her lover and then sleeps beside his rotting body. Not only have
O’Conner and Faulkner created similar plots in their respective stories, but both authors
also criticize the Southern corruption through the distortion of the characters’ world
view of reality. However, the usage of mentioning past events and how these women change
are very different in action and execution. Emily Grierson, from Faulker’s A Rose for Emily,
wanted to live her life in the past. However, the grandma, from O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard
to Find, just alludes to moments from her past that are better than her current situation. The
past and change have a correlation, and these two stories prove so. The following displays of
the past truly change these women, more for the worse than the better.
by creating stories condemning the protagonists’ nostalgic view of society, the irony of
social structure, demonstration of racism, and distortion of ethics in the southern
culture, the two authors depict the lifestyle and perspective of two southern women and
how their outlook on society shapes how they live their lives.