Grandmother And Her Son's Family example essay topic

"A Good Man is Hard to Find' is a story about a simple family who plan to go to Florida for a vacation. The grandmother, who would rather go to Tennessee, burdens her son and his family. On the way to Florida tragedy strikes, causing the family to never reach their destination, or be able to return home. The Grandmother in this story, who believes a good man is hard to find, does not see that her own son is a good man because her perception of a good man is not accurate. The family symbolizes the segments of society, while the Misfit and his friends symbolize what is wrong with it. The grandmother, through her constant whining tries to warn the family of the doom of society but her family along with everyone else blows her off.

The grandmother's ignorance of the definition of a good man causes the downfall of the family she supposedly loves. This story serves almost as a wake up call to America, demanding that we realize the harsh realities of modern life In the grandmother's character it portrays her to be very self centered, and stubborn. In addition, her stubbornness and the burden she imposes onto her family proves that she is not a good woman. She seizes every opportunity to try and change her son's mind by telling him that there is a criminal loose who is heading to Florida, and how if she were Bailey she wouldn't want to take her children to a place where a convicted criminal is loose.

Even though she doesn't want to go to Florida she doesn't want to stay behind and be left alone. She is very defiant by secretly bringing the cat just to burden her son because most motels won't allow cats. When she wanted to go see an old house, she manipulates the children into getting her son to go by telling them that there was a secret panel in the house. When they have the accident she instantly says, "I think I injured an organ,' without even asking if everyone else was okay. Bailey is the son who seems to be very tolerant of his mother. He is very dedicated to his family and this is obvious because he puts up with his mom even though she is burdening him.

Bailey and his wife often ignore the grandmother because they have become tired of arguing with her. The unruly children are representatives of the breakdown of respect, and discipline of today's society. The Misfit represents evil. The external conflict is between the grandmother and her son's family.

All of the whining and problems the grandmother caused while they were on the trip is evident throughout the entire story. O'Connor foreshadows during the story which produces what happens at the end. For example, when she mentions the Misfit at the beginning of the story trying to persuade them to go to Tennessee and when they passed by the graves while they were on their way. The internal conflict is that of the breakdown of society, which is portrayed between the family, the grandmother and the Misfit. The grandmother, with her stubbornness, is ultimately responsible for the fate of the family because she was the one who wanted to go to the house with the secret panel. The story is told in Third Person Omniscient point of view.

You get a sense of how the family feels about the grandmother and how much of a burden she is on them. Throughout the story the grandmother's thoughts are evident by the way she is constantly telling the family what she wants and what they should do. The setting of this story is mostly in the car on the way to Florida. There were a few stops along the way, which included; The Tower, which is where they ate barbeque d sandwiches, and the dirt road on the way to the old plantation house, which is where their destiny ends. The use of language in this story is that of irony and dialogue. The irony is verbal which is mostly when the grandmother is speaking.

One use of that is the manipulation and selfishness she uses. She is constantly thinking of only herself and makes comments letting the family know that she is unhappy. When the accident happens and the grandmother notices the Misfit as the criminal she instantly says, "You wouldn't shoot a lady would you?' She was only thinking of herself at the time and what she should have said is, "You wouldn't kill this family would you?' Situational Irony in that the reason the family had the accident was because the grandmother brought the cat along defiantly. Also, the family's destiny in meeting the Misfit is because the grandmother wanted to see the old plantation house.

The irony is that the grandmother did not even want to go and because she went the family was doomed and never returned home. The use of dialogue in the story helps to develop the conflict and builds the suspense of the story. Near the end of the story the grandmother recognizes the shirt the Misfit has put on as her son's shirt. Upon observing this image, she realizes that to be truly Christlike, she will have to forgive the Misfit and accept him as her child, a child of God. The story ends tragically which concludes that not everyone is as nice as they used to be and that life isn't full of happy endings.