A_Good_Man_Is_Hard_to_Find

Divine Grace in the Imperfect but Funny World of Human Beings Grotesque in style, Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” portrays a comical tone through the irony of repulsive characters. Written in third person, O’Connor narrates the story in testimony to her intense realistic observation which demands hope through cynical events that occur on a family trip to Florida. The trip foreshadows events leading into an encounter by an escaped convict named “The Misfit” who murders the family as a whole in the end. A theme that lingers in her story is the divine grace in the imperfect but funny world of human beings. From the authors’ oeuvre, audiences can grasp the effect of American South Literature in the diction and tone and irony of the short story. Introduced to all the main characters at the beginning of the chapter, one can already depict the mentality of them through testimony and imagery. In the first paragraph the narrator already depicts a debased, sly, unsympathetic view of the main character—grandma, “The grandmother didn't want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey's mind (Paragraph 1).” She has a bitter approach to her family because she feels as if the elderly have the power of decision making, as she was raised. When the grandma prepares for the trip she puts on a ‘clean cut appearance’ with a blue navy dress, she notes that the children’s mother lacks in appearance and appreciation for the trip. It seems as if though her connection with the family lacks in communication and cultural allocation. Grandma wants to appear above everyone else, because she is the wiser person and of higher class. For example in the quote, “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady (Paragraph 12),” proves that she relies on materialistic views of the world and isn’t optimistic or secure with herself. It also brings out a comical sense since she is so stubborn on the fact that she has to go to Florida instead of Georgia and thinks that the murderer in an article she read will appear and kill her. Her attitude towards her grandchildren also shows her pessimistic view of life. For instance, when the family was driving through Georgia the lands were barren and John Wesley, one of the children, mocks his grandmothers sanctuary as a “hillbilly dumping ground (Paragraph 15),” and the grandmother replies, “‘In my time…children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then… Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!’ she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack. ‘Wouldn't that make a picture, now (Paragraph 17)'’” Ironically, the grandmother looks like the cynic because she says how much the children do not appreciate the country, whereas she is stuck in the acceptance of racism and southern historical values rather than the modern family perspective. The effect of the grandmothers’ ironic comments gives meaning to the text in the voice the author chooses to use. Set in the rural American South, O’Connor’s fiction can be depicted from her choice and use of words. Diction is used to categorize the formality of the context from a story. This story uses informal languagethat is broken up and colloquial. For example, “the old lady said. ‘You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad. They never have been to east Tennessee (Paragraph 2).’” This quote shows that the grandma uses dialect that is out of date or from a southern state. “You all” is a term used from a rural area, and “ought” is an uncivilized way of saying better. Followed by diction tone can easily be picked up from the sentence structure towards the implied attitude of the authors’ language. A hyperbole can be picked up from the lines, “‘She wouldn't stay at home to be queen for a day,’ June Star said without raising her yellow head (Paragraph 4).” The sarcastic statement implying that the family could careless whether or not the grandma stays or goes the family could care less. Choosing words such as “queen” , implies that the granddaughter, June Star, is sarcastic and when she doesn’t pick up her head to speak it shows that she thinks the grandma is just a nuisance acting of higher authority. Certain word choices’ and expressions mold the tone and entail the humor of the fictional story—helping the action of the script. To understand O’Connor’s humor, it is critical to understand or depict the dramatic and verbal irony from the tone. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the sarcastic comment about the grandma being a queen is an example of verbal irony because she is not technically a queen, having a different meaning rather than a literal one. This short story contains much dramatic irony that reverses an expectation that the reader has in a twist. Dramatic irony relies on foreshadowing to take effect—which hint a suggestion for an upcoming event. The first hint arises in the first paragraph when the grandmother reads an article to her son Bailey in the news describing a murderer named “The Misfit” on the loose. She discourages the trip, however, no one listens. Foreshadowing effects are added throughout the story until the climax such as “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady (paragraph 12).” Already prepared to battle death, the focus of the story is on the grandma and whatever she takes to precaution, the audience does too. John Wesley did suggest that the grandma could stay, “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home.” The grandma is naive and ironically decides to go on the trip. Near the end, having lost all her family and threatened to death with her, the grandmother appears to undergo a change of heart and reaches out to the serial killer himself. Unexpected events lead to the irony of events, capturing audiences to understand the context of the fictional writing style. Expectations in O’Connor’s story repeat with irony that is downright funny and full of action, worldview, language, characterization, action, and structure. All the characters are “moral” according to their own interpretations in this short story. “The Misfit” even seemed to have the right state of mind even though he was a criminal. For example he commented that, “ ‘Jesus thrown everything off balance. It was the same case with him as with me except he hadn’t committed any crime and they could prove I committed one because they had the papers on me…of course…they never shown me my papers. That’s why I sign myself now…. I call myself “the Misfit” because I can’t make what all I done fit what all I gone through in punishment (Paragraph 120).”Another piece of evidence that suggest he is guilty is his comment that which could be taken as Jesus was innocent but people said he was guilty, and punished him as such. The Misfit acted in a calm and dispassionate manner until he began talking about religion and forgiveness, so he may have been innocent of the crimes he was punished for, and sorry for the crimes he had committed after escaping. The Misfit was not a good person, but the question is was he driven to be the way he was because of his own experiences or was he just a cold-blooded murderer who thought he was an “undertaker” killing people to balance out the ones Jesus raised from the dead. Expectations act like grace, waiting to accepted or reject the opportunity to interpret information. O’Connor’s works provoke different reactions toward the lyrical irony and content of the Southern American literature context. Characters are not what they seem and grasp a different reaction towards the end of the conflict. Cruelty and death are faced with humor and as if it weren’tpresent. Some audiences may accept the comedy factor or reject it with disgust. The purpose of theme of grace is accompanied by the dramatic and verbal irony in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” it allows readers to go beneath the layers of the obvious and interpret fiction on their own means.