Analysis Of “A Good Man Is Hard To Find“

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Analysis of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
The short story by Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is about a family that takes a vacation to Florida and somehow along the way manages to get murdered by a man who calls himself “The Misfit”, and two of his friends. Flannery O’Connor’s story has many important elements, but what makes this story special is the combined use of character development and irony.
The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor was written in 1955 during a time when most people in small communities were very religious and followed the Christian faith very strictly. In the story, the grandmother and The Misfit briefly discuss religion, particularly about Jesus and the miracle of resurrection from the dead. O’Connor’s use of this religious belief appeals to the audience of the 1950’s in a way that puzzles the reader and creates a mysterious wonder of uncertainty for the antagonist of the story. With this character development, the grandmother makes a certain ironic mistake that causes The Misfit to think about the terrible things he has done. In the story The Misfit said, “Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead,” The Misfit continued, “and He shouldn’t have done it. He thown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then its nothing for you to do but thow away everything and follow Him, and if He didn’t, then its nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the


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best way you can—by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him.
The grandmother made the terrible mistake and said, “Maybe He didn’t raise the dead.” She sparks a fire of resentment and anger The Misfit has for all the bad things he has done. When he said, “I wasn’t there so I can’t say He didn’t.” The Misfit shows an emotional dought that maybe everything he ...