Flannery O’ Conner and William Faulkner both possess abnormal and mischievous characteristics. The grandmother in the narrative by O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find, is the story’s main focus and takes advantage of recounting the attempt to have herself killed. In A Rose for Emily, a compelling account produced by Faulkner, the entire attention is meted on Emily who appears to be highly old-fashioned cannot auger well with the contemporary epoch and instead keeps on holding on to her history. The two comprise of a gloomy end which can be attributed to their failure to abandon everything that has passed and utilize their outdated behaviors in distinct ways. Faulkner established his narrative in the Atlanta suburban while O’ Conner set up the story in the county of Mississippi (Faulkner 31). This study delves deep into the comparison of the two thought-provoking narratives, A Rose for Emily and A Good Man is Hard to Find as well as the stylistic devices and themes used.
In Flannery O’ Conner’s account, the grandmother convinces Bailey, her son, to travel to her Tennessee home for vacation as opposed to Florida. According to O’ Conner (23), the excuse she offers is that her children have already visited Florida and have never been to the city of Tennessee. Notably, the elderly woman fails terribly and eventually occupying a rear seat together her two grandchildren who are seemingly bratty and has a cat that she hides under legs. Emily, in Faulkner William's recount, was an overprotected person who was seemingly spoiled and would do anything including murder to attain her objectives. She deeply loathes the idea of solitude and singleness, and she subsequently kills the man she was in love with after learning of his plot to desert him.
Nonetheless, the grandmother would never embrace murder, and her conscience would not support it, although it would never halt her from maneuvering people to execute everything she had planned to do. Additionally, Emily, in A Rose for Emily, feels that there is no need to control anybody to achieve anything because she is considered as Grierson. At a certain point, there was a lot of Grierson's clout in town. Another evaluation of the two narratives is that the two characters are not perceived to be working well especially regarding the change. An ideal example is in "A Rose for Emily" when Emily's father passes on when the daughter refuses to admit that her father is indeed deceased. Notably, many females in the city attempt to condole with and console her but her denial cannot allow her to accept the reality and withholds her father’s remains (O’ Conner, 59). She only surrenders the dead body after three days for burial after coming back to her senses.
The two stories are insights into families set up in the ancient south as well as the older class system of nobility and wealth. The two families where both Emily and the grandmother hailed from harbored strict notions. They had a similar opinion regarding the society of the “upper class” as well as decent behavior. Rather, they are both prejudiced, snobbish, and embrace time-honored traditions that are considered outdated by contemporary culture. Besides, the stories have a similarity in that they possess a tentative factor that alters almost everything. In A Rose for Emily where the principal character, Emily, owns the ability to choose in regards to love matters. She begins seeing Homer Barron and things take a turn whereby in the face of custom as well as the face of morality and decency, she flies albeit losing him. Besides, O’ Conner (61) claimed that things alter in A Good Man is Hard to Find when a gang and the Misfit come into play. Abruptly, the entire grandmother's prejudices and beliefs do not matter any longer, and she rises against a force that alters things irreversibly.
Contrarily, only the life of one man is taken in "A Rose for Emily." Nevertheless, in "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the whole family was killed. In one incidence, Emily is the principal murderer in a psychologically, subtle, and understandable manner. The Misfit is a senseless, outright, and ruthless murderer. Additionally, the settings of the two narratives differ. For instance, the story encompassing the grandmother takes place in virtually an entire state while in Emily's, the tale occurs in one building (O’ Conner 69). The story by O’ Conner ends with a redemption message as the elderly woman harbors a decision before her demise. Notably, she realizes that all people are loved, connected, and equal in the eyes of God. Nevertheless, Emily’s tale lacks a redemption message but is filled with pity and repugnance.