The conclusions
we reached in class about the characters was great. It really helped show what
an incredibly well-written story this is and how great of a writer O’Connor is.
What really grabbed my attention out
of all of this was the title, because it seems to sum up the entire story. What
then could it be referring to? Does it mean that when you do find a good man
(assuming it is The Misfit), there’s something about him that hinders this quality
(like being a murderer)?
But can we call The Misfit a good
man? All of the characters are not likeable; these fake people whose pretense
or labeling of “good” just highlights how far they are from being good, and who
earn almost no sympathy from the reader by the end. The Misfit however does
seem like the best one out of the bunch. His demeanor, his choice of words, his
actions all distinguish him as being a gentleman of sorts. The first thing The
Misfit says is “Good afternoon” (O’Connor 126). Then the reader learns more
about him and his story. Yes he kills people, he kills the family while he’s
talking with the grandma, and yet one could argue he is a “good man”. He talks
about Jesus resurrecting the dead and says, “If He did what He said, then it’s
nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and if He
didn’t, then it’s nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left best
way you can...” (132). Later he says, “I wisht I had of been there....if I had
been there I would have known and I wouldn’t be like I am now” (132). What this
tells me is that there was hope for The Misfit; he seems to imply he doesn’t
like the way he is and he could have been different – good. Given the way
things really are though, I’d say The Misfit isn’t a good man.
There are also the grandma’s requirements
of being a “good man”. It could be quite comical, if it weren’t so tragic, at
just how backwards the grandma is portrayed. The laundry list of traits we came
up with for the grandma make her anything but a “lady”. Therefore, with our
example of what a “lady” is, the grandma really destroys the entire concept (on
top of calling Red Sammy a “good man”). The reader’s judgment of what’s good
and bad is compromised because our one example is faulty. Furthermore, when the
grandma says to The Misfit “...I know you’re a good man at heart. I can just
look at you and tell”, her words hold no value. (128)
Adding to this, even The Misfit
disagrees with the grandma when she calls him a good man. “‘Nome, I ain’t a
good man,’ The Misfit said after a second as if he had considered her statement
carefully...” (128) What’s especially suggestive in this response, as pointed
out by O’Connor, is that The Misfit thought about what she was saying. What all
this tells me is that the point of the story may be that there is no such thing
as a “good man”. Perhaps the only hope for the story was The Misfit, but nothing
can change the way he is. Therefore, “a good man” doesn’t exist in the world of
the story. Translating this then to the real world, I wonder what O’Connor is
trying to say?
Work
Cited
O’Connor,
Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”. The
Complete Stories. The Noonday
Press: New York. Moodle. PDF file.
Chaz Bruckman
ReplyDeleteEnglish 130
Sharon Oster
Comment 4
I really like Ariana’s post on Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. I really liked her ideas about how she said that the Title of the story is says it all. She infers that there is no such thing as a good man. The story makes readers really question what O’Conner means by “A Good Man” because no single character in the story is truly good. Each character is flawed in unique ways. I liked how Ariana says, “These fake people whose pretense or labeling of ‘good’ just highlights how far they are from being good” (p. 1). This is very interesting to me. The more I look at the grandmother, the more it becomes apparent that it is her view of what is good, is what makes her a bad person. She calls all the of the supposed “bad” people good. The grandmother calls the Misfit and Red Sam good. The Misfit is a murderer and Red Sam is no better than the grandmother.
I really like how Ariana says that the Misfit, the murderer, is the most “good” person in the story. Ariana talks about how the Misfit is the best because of his demeanor and also his choice of words. This makes sense to me because he is the most true to himself. The grandmother puts on a mask to hide her true self. She wears fancy clothes and ways certain ways to act lady like. She never reveals her true ideas or thoughts. On the other hand, the Misfit knows exactly who he is and isn’t afraid to show it. He is a murderer and he doesn’t hide it. He speaks from the heart and is true to what he believes. This is why the misfit is the most “good” person in the story.
Over all, I really liked this blog post. I think it touched on some of the key issues in the story. My ideas related pretty well with Ariana’s ideas.