Essay --

English 102 Professor Su Suoccai Arnaud Fragniere 19 February 2014 The different aspects of the Grandmother’s personality in ’’A Good Man Is Hard to Find’’ In Flannery O’Connor’s story ‘’A Good Man Is Hard to find’’, the author narrates the events as a third person, centering it on the grandmother who decides to go with her whole family for a road trip from Georgia to Florida. The grandmother does not want to go to Florida. During the journey she selfishly and manipulatively forces the whole family to go see a plantation that she mistakenly think is on the way. This results in them having an accident and meeting the Misfit, an extremely violent criminal who defies ‘’the beliefs that Christians have in the ability of Jesus to raise the dead’’. As the story develops, the Misfit and his accomplices kill all members of the family except for the grandmother, who up to her death, falsely tries to convince herself and the Misfit that he is a ‘’good man’’. At the end, the grandmother has a moment of grace. However, it proves unavailing as the Mis fit, proceeds to kill her without remorse. Throughout the text we realize that the major trait of the grandmother’s personality is the fact that she considers herself as morally superior. This is based on her belief that she is a ‘’lady’’; sophisticated, wealthy, overall better of a woman. In her eyes, this allows her to judge others. Not only does she see herself as superior, but she thinks that her faith along with her being a good Christian would save her from anything that could cross her path. We discover that she is also extremely selfish and manipulative; for her, her life has much more value than anything else, including the life of her children and grandchildren. To unders... ...e times through the chest. The grandmother’s selfishness and ability to manipulate people fails to help her during the biggest threat that she has to face through her entire existence: her imminent death. Her inability to change the Misfit’s mind and manipulate him the way she wants costs her life. O’connor’s story shows us an old grandmother who considers her as a superior person being powerless against her antagonist in life. The Misfit, this criminal who doesn't believe there is real pleasure in life challenges everything the old lady might say or do in order to live. The old lady tries in vain to save her life using all the tools that she knows, even if she selfishly has to serve this purpose and letting her whole family get killed. The grandmother must abandon all of her manipulative self-absorption, her focus on class and her external show of Christianity.