Selfishness and Individualism in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

The short story A Good Man is Hard to Find, written by Flannery OConnor, which holds the same title as her debut collection of short stories published in 1955, is deemed as her most disturbing work of fiction given its content. It is dark, and it centers upon two personality traits that are not uncommon in people selfishness and individualism. The analysis presents a view on them in retrospect to the main characters of the story The Grandmother and The Misfit.

Main body

A Good Man is Hard to Find opens with a household discussion of a plan being made for a tour to Florida. The introduction of the characters happens gradually, but the main accent is put on the morally correct grandmother. The Grandmother, who with the later introduced Misfit, holds the most ground for analysis, lives with her son Bailey and his wife, alongside their two children. After waking up from a nap and having sneaked her cat in, underneath her big black valise that looked like the head of a hippopotamus, she comes up with an idea to revisit an old plantation, a little past a place called Toomsboro (OConnor 2). The son is reluctant but gives in on the basis that his children are driving him crazy. The cat that was sneaked in before jumps on his shoulders and causes a car wreck.

The two themes, selfishness, and individualism can be compared through these two characters actions. The Grandmother is a fairly tedious woman who thinks she is better than everyone around just because she is a lady, from which she automatically undertakes the right to pass on judgment on those around her. The Misfit is a character that has his own violent and malevolent killing behind him, and from him, you would not expect spiritual or moral guidance. Still, he holds a deep conviction that lacks in the other characters.

The constant introspection that the character has done allows him to step on some sort of higher ground and get the self-awareness that the reader finds lacking in The Grandmother. He knows about his imperfections, from which he forms primary philosophies, such as no pleasure but meanness and the crime doesnt matter (OConnor 13, 12). His beliefs may be corrupt but at least they are consistent when compared to the ones of The Grandmother.

The Grandmothers self-absorption, as well as her problems with memory, happens to be one of the main reasons for the familys downfall. Her lies about the cat and her decision to hide the fact she forgot where the house was situated demonstrate her lack of conscience. Moreover, when it comes to it, she only pleads for her own life in front of The Misfit since she thinks he will not kill a lady. After shooting her, he observes: She would have been a good woman [&] if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life. (OConnor 13). Her usage of the label good, compared to The Misfits, reveals her last moment of discovery of her divine truth and that she never meant moral or kind but rather good if only someones values align with her own.

Conclusion

In A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery OConnor states that selfishness and extreme individualism can cause ones alienation from society and the world around them. The difference between The Misfit and The Grandmother is very little, except for their social status a misfit or a lady, they remain, egotistical people, who always put themselves first and who lie and manipulate to be able to reach their goal. In the story, these two traits come together in a cataclysmic collide.

Work Cited

OConnor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983.

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Selfishness and Individualism in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor

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