Paste your eIn “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner there are two major characters; therefore, this essay will focus on the characteristic traits of the major characters. The major characters are the grandmother and the Misfit. The grandmother is viewed as an evil woman, but sees herself as a good Christian. She also displays characteristics of racism as well as being a selfish person. The other main character in the story is the Misfit who is a misunderstood person, murderer and criminal. Both characters live by a moral code that affect their beliefs, decisions and actions. The grandmother does not question her religion and accepts it, but the Misfit questions his religious beliefs. Both characters find religious peace towards the end of the story.
In the story, the grandmother believes that all people are good. She perceives herself as a Christian. The first instance of her believing that all people are good is when Red Sam is talking to her. He is questioning why she is letting two men charge for gas that came into the store earlier. The grandmother states it is because she thinks he is a good man. “She thinks Red Sammy Butts "is a good man" despite the evidence that in reality he is a lazy slob who treats his wife like a slave (Ochshorn). The grandmother also believes that the Misfit is a good man and a gentleman. At the end of the story, she keeps telling him that he is a good man and a good man wouldn’t shoot a lady. The grandmother thinking all people are good is a reflection of Flannery O’Connor being a Catholic. As indicated by Chapman, (I think this is supposed to be Champion based on your reference list. Take this part out once you determine if it is Chapman or Champion). “One of the most defining elements of Flannery O'Connor's life and of her writings, both fiction and nonfiction, is her Christian identity, and her affiliation with Catholicism in particular”; therefore, it is evident that O’Connor is putting her own religious beliefs into this character.
The grandmother is also a very self-centered person. At the beginning, she shows her selfish ways while traveling with her family to Florida because she would prefer to travel to Tennessee. She keeps making excuses and complaining about going to Florida without any consideration for her family’s travel plans. This is referenced when L C David states, “The grandmother who establishes herself as a nervous talker, who is confused about why things couldn't stay the way they were back in the old days keeps trying to talk the family into going to Tennessee instead of Florida”. She talks about a serial killer called "The Misfit" who is somewhere on the loose in Georgia and explains they'll be going right into his path. Lastly, at the end of the story the grandmother shows her selfish ways when they come across the path of the Misfit and while her family is being killed she only pleads for her own life. The grandmother has no concern for others because she keeps saying to the Misfit, “You won’t shoot a lady and I know you are a good man”. She again appeals to the fact that she is a lady and she adds, "I'll give you all the money I've got!" (p. 132). The contents of her purse seem an unlikely ransom when the rest of her family has already been murdered. (Ochshorn)
The grandmother appears to be a very raciest person. The first instance of this is when the grandmother and her family are heading to Florida. June Star comments that a boy at the shed they passed wasn’t wearing any pants. The grandmother referred to the boy using the n word and commented they don’t have nice things like we do. The grandmother is inferring that all black people are poor by making this statement. Also, when the grandmother is telling a story from her past, she talks about a black boy who takes a water melon from her porch. Back in the 1950s, a watermelon was perceived as a racist symbol. Southern whites who felt threatened by blacks’ newfound freedom, responded by making the fruit a symbol of black people’s perceived uncleanliness, laziness, childishness, and unwanted public presence (Black).
The grandmother also proves to be a very talkative person who ends up causing her family’s unfortunate tragedy. The first instance of this is when she talks her son into driving down a back road to see a plantation which results in causing the family to be in a car wreck. One can infer from Ochshorn’s statement, “Her fuzzy fantasies about a southern mansion combined with some assistance from the smuggled cat manage to cause the car wreck” that the grandmother and her cat were the reasons the family became involved in an accident (Ochshorn). The grandmother ends up causing her family’s death when the Misfit appears after the accident. She notices the Misfit from the paper and makes this acknowledgement to the Misfit. The Misfit sends the grandmother’s family into the woods to their tragic death. During this time, she continues to irritate the Misfit even though her family has met their untimely death. Then the grandmother deals with The Misfit by appealing to his gentility. She keeps insisting he is a good man, from good people (Ochshorn).
Upon analyzing the Misfit’s characteristic traits, it appears he is a man of authority and questions his existence as well as his religious beliefs. Even though the Misfit is a criminal, he is very respectful. An example of this is when he offers to help the family after the wreck. Also, he is very concerned about his image. This is evident when he is talking to the family before he murders them. He apologizes to them for not having a shirt on in front of two ladies. The Misfit is also an evil man. Evidence of this is referenced in the story when the grandmother acknowledges his picture from the paper. He orders his associates to take the family into the woods and terminate them one by one. Also, it is obvious the Misfit is an evil man because of how he references his past. He states that he gets pleasure out of harming others because his own personal experiences in life have demonstrated to him how others have found enjoyment and pleasure when hurting and harming him (Sparrow). The Misfit explains to the grandmother how people always commented how he was different from everyone else. This helps explain why he has developed the personality he has as well as his actions, but this does not justify his actions in relations to killing the family. It is evident that the Misfit had a very rough and troubling childhood and why his behavior has seldom been conformed to the norms of middle class society (Sparrow).
Lastly, both the Grandmother and the Misfit both have a spiritual awakening at the end of the story. At the beginning of the story the grandmother believes that she is already a good Christian and the Misfit thinks he is doing all right without the guidance of Christianity. The grandmother finds her spiritual peace right before she is murdered and reaches for the Misfit. “O'Connor does indicate that the grandmother's head clears before she tells The Misfit why he is one of her babies. “You're one of my own children!" (p. 132, Ochshorn). The Misfit receives his spiritual awakening after he shoots the grandmother because he realizes what he has done and how evil his ways really are after murdering an innocent old lady. His killing of someone as old and helpless as the grandmother certainly opened his eyes and changed him and it can be equally certain that the encounter changed the grandmother as well (Ochshorn). In conclusion the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” has two main characters the grandmother and the Misfit. The grandmother is a racist, talkative Christian woman and the Misfit is a respectful, evil man, but both of them find spiritual bliss at the end of the story.
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