Literary analysis of “A Good Man is Hard To Find” Essay

In the short invention A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery OConner, the lector is taken on a journey and tags along with a self-centered family as they explore the sights of the rural s discoverh while en route to their destination, a family vacation in Florida.As they travel the dusty road, OConnor (2012) takes them from heaven, all at once, they would be on a hill, looking depressed over the blue tops of trees for miles around, (p. 139) and spirals them down to hell thusly the next minute, they would be in a red depression with the dust coated trees looking down on them, (p. 139) where they go out their sudden and unpredicted demise. Through it all, OConnor spins a violent, dark and obscure tale, utilizing symbolism, allusions, irony and psychological aspects to effectively convey her newspaper publisher of good versus evil, and reminds us that good does not always win.OConnor (2012) starts us in an unnamed city, with a family of six as they discuss their upcoming vacat ion to Florida. The husband, Bailey, is succinct and short with his words. His wife and mother, both inhabit unnamed in the story but cave in quite contrasting personalities. Baileys mother, the naan, is self-centered and practically manipulative. His wife, the childrens mother, is quiet and meek as she simple machinees for her immatureest child, the baby.His 2 older children, magic Wesley and June Star, are outspoken and disrespectful, and their atrocious behavior goes unpunished. They travel the back roads of Georgia together as the grandmother tells tales of the past and points out uninteresting sights, which fall on the deaf ears of her family. The family stops for lunch at a roadside diner, and the lecturer gets a hike glimpse into their everyday interaction, and for a moment, things actually seem hopeful for the dysfunctional family. afterwards their meal, the family continues on to their destination, and the grandmother and children manipulate Baily into taking a de tour to visit an old, mysterious estate that the grandmother once visited in her younger years. A sudden andembarrassing thought of the grandmother leads to a railcar accident where miraculously, nobody sustains any serious injury. A moment of hope in rescue turns dismal as their rescuer turns out to an escaped killer, the Misfit, who chargetually kills the family. The grandmother, who in more ways than one is amenable for the familys untimely end, has a moment of grace in her last moment and dies with a grimace on her face (p. 134-146).OConnors story is filled with symbolism and allusion, in order to further convey her dark theme of death and views surrounding it. An example of such symbolism is when the family is passing the townsfolk of Toombsboro. OConnor (2012) writes outside of Toombsboro she woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady (p. 138).The name of the town, Toombsboro plays on the word tomb, whic h represents death. This alludes to the reader that death may be in the familys future. OConnor continues with the symbolism after the family has crashed, and their hope for rescue comes in the form of a hearse. The family sees a car slowly driving towards them, lumbering along the twists and turns of the road they had just traveled. As it appears in front of them, OConnor (2012) writes it was a big black battered hearse-like automobile (p.140). Again, the image of a hearse, which is used to transport the dead, brings the idea of death to the mind of the reader, and further alludes to the death that the family is about to encounter.OConnor (2012) furthers her death allusions and symbolism when she writes the Misfit pointed the toe of his brake shoe into the ground and made a little hole and then covered it up again (p. 142). The Misfit in this case, is digging a hole and then covering it back up, symbolizing the digging of a grave, and then filling the grave back in. OConnors use of symbols of death advance her theme and wreak to the dark tone of the story.OConnor also uses a number of psychological aspects to further relate her characters to her readers. As OConnor starts the story, all members of the family appear in one way or another to be self-centered, which relates to the analysis term of the Id, which are the unconscious desires of the character and the gratification of those desires. In one passage, the grandmother speaks to the children of an old grey gentleman she onceknew, Mr. Teagarden. OConnor (2012) writes she would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he had bought Coca-Cola stock when it foremost came out and that he had died a very wealthy man (p.137).This comment by the grandmother hints on her unconscious materialistic desires about money, and is even shameful enough to impart this negative personal case onto her grandchildren. Moreover, this quality is seen in the children when OConnor writes about June Star as she speaks abo ut the roadside diner where they have stopped. June Star says I wouldnt live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks (OConnor, 2012, p. 137). June Star is showing her materialistic desires when she states that she has no care to live in anything but luxury, even for a large sum of money.Further in the story, the children throw a tantrum, even resorting to violent tactics, in order to get their way and visit the old estate where hidden valuables are rumored to be stashed. OConner (2012) writes The children began to yell and scream that they wanted to see the house with the secret panel. John Wesley kicked the back of the front base and June Star hung over her mothers shoulder and whined desperately into her earThe baby began to scream and John Wesley kicked the back of the seat so hard that his father could savour the blows in his kidney (p.139). Again, OConnor illustrates the Id of the children as they hear gratification of their desires, which is to get the hidden v aluables. This shows the materialistic values that the young children hold. OConnors use of psychoanalytical ideas helps further convey her theme and tone to the reader.OConnor also employs a number of examples of irony in her story to better involve the reader. The grandmother states I wouldnt take my children in any heraldic bearing with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldnt resolving power to my conscious if I did (OConnor, 2012, p. 134). This statement, while foreshadowing to a certain degree, turns ironic at the end of the story, as it is the grandmother that detours the family down the foulness road, where they at long last come into contact with the Misfit, and are killed.It is also ironic in that the grandmother does have to answer to her conscious, and OConnor (2012) describes the grandmother, after being shot by the Misfit, as having her face smiling up at the cloudless sky (p. 145), showing that the grandmother died at peace. Again, this is ironic in that thegr andmother was directly amenable for her children and grandchildrens deaths, yet she died at peace with the world. OConnors use of irony throughout the story is an excellent way to further her overall tone, and engage the reader deeper into the story.OConnors story brings the reader into the realm of death by her use of symbolism, irony, and psychoanalysis. Her use of symbols and allusions of death, seeking gratification for personal desires, and the idea that the characters meet an ironic death, all build a solid base in which to convey her theme that brisk a good, pure and wholesome life may spare you from evil. The characters may feel on top of the world as they travel down the dusty, winding road of life, but ultimately die, due to their selfish ways, in a reddened, deep ditch, at the edge of a dark woods.ReferencesOConnor, F. (2012). A Good Man Is Hard to Find. In P. Schakel, & J. Ridl, Approaching literature Reading, thinking, writing (3rd ed., pp. 134-146). Boston Bedford/St . Martins.