Grandmother's Cat Startles Bailey example essay topic

'A Good Man is Hard to Find'; In the short story, 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'; , the main character is the grandmother. Flannery O'Connor, the author, lets the reader find out who the grandmother is by her conversations and reactions to the other characters in the story. The grandmother is the most important character in the story because she has a main role in the stories principal action. This little old lady is the protagonist in this piece. We learn more about her from her direct conversation with the son, Bailey, her grandchildren, June Star and John Wesley, and the Misfit killer.

Through these conversations, we know that she is a lady raised from a traditional background. In the story, her attitude changes more than once to accommodate the surroundings that she is in. With the data provided, we can tell that the grandmother goes from not wanting to go to Florida, to anxious to go, and in the end, I felt as if she went off the deep end. All of the sudden, the only thing she really concentrates on is Jesus and her not being killed. The action in the entire story surrounds and normally begins with something the grandmother has said or done. At the very beginning of the story, she starts off by stating that she does not want to go to Florida.

She would rather go to east Tennessee and tried anything she could to change Bailey's mind (Page 426). Later in the story, as they began the trip to Florida, the grandmother talked the entire time. She would tell stories of her youth to the grandchildren and lecture them about being more respectful to their native state, and to their parents. Although the grandmother is the protagonist, it is her fault that the trip ended in the devastating way that it did. She, unknowingly, led her entire family to their fate. She is even more responsible for the deaths because of what she brought on the trip with her.

If there had been no cat, there would have not been an accident. If the accident would not have happened, the family had an extremely good chance to survive their vacation. There are many things that happen in the story that gives more information about the grandmother. The reader can tell that the woman is paranoid by her conversations at the start of this story. She reads about the Misfit killer and assumes it would be dangerous to travel to Florida with a man like that on the loose. She is also a lonely person because she sneaks her cat, Pitty Sing, along for the ride.

The author states that the woman did not want to leave the cat because it would miss her too much or would rub against a burner and asphyxiate itself (Page 427). I believe that the cat was the only thing that showed her love and attention. Her only son, had a family of his own, her grandchildren were older now, and she felt like she was not important to them anymore, and the children's mother was involved with the baby. By bringing the cat, she felt like she would not be lonely. The reader can also tell that the woman is extremely prejudice. She refers to the black child as a 'cute little pickaninny'; and a nigger.

You can also tell a lot about the old woman by what she is wearing. In the car, she wears white gloves, a sailor hat, and a navy blue dress. She states that the prominent clothes are worn so that if anything happens, the people that find her body will know that she was a lady (Page 427). I think she wore this outfit so that she could think she was something she was not.

It is clearly seen that in her youth, she lived in prosperity. She had everything from youthfulness to money and to love. Now, she almost dreaded life because her beauty and youthfulness were gone. She would talk about her past because it would take her away from the misery of the present. One of the most important scenes in the story takes place in the vehicle.

The grandmother spots an old family graveyard that once belonged to a plantation. She tells the children that the graves were an old family burying ground (Page 428). Her grandson asks where the plantation went, and she states that the plantation is 'Gone With the Wind'; (Page 428). This statement has more meaning than just a casual remark. I believe that it is another way that the grandmother expresses her remorse to her present situation.

Although she may be referring to the movie, she also is referring to her life. It has unraveled and now she thinks it is lost. The most action in the story takes place when the grandmother meets the antagonist. The family gets into an accident when the grandmother's cat startles Bailey. After the wreck, they saw a car approaching from the distance. The three men get out of the car and the grandmother recognizes one of them from somewhere.

At this point in time, it is her fault for turning down the desolate road, and her cat causing Bailey to wreck the car. She soon makes another mistake. She recognizes the third man as the Misfit killer (Page 432). This brings the eventual doom of the entire family. The escaped convicts might have let them go if she would not have made that statement, although that is just speculation. After this, the grandmother immediately tried to protect herself.

She did not even plead for the lives of her only son and her grandson. They were taken out into the woods and shot. The story gets extremely interesting at this point because the grandmother starts referring to Jesus. She tries to convince the killer that he comes from good blood. This is a reference to her youth once again.

In her days, people that were raised well in good families did not commit hain us crimes like murder. She could not believe that this man was capable of killing her. In the end, after her entire family was killed, she realized that her time was up. She made a last desperate attempt to save her life and ultimately failed.

The Misfit killer shot her three times. The killer then says, 'she would have been a good woman if there had been someone to shoot her every minute of her life'; (Page 436). This statement leads me to believe that he knew what type of woman that she was. The most important aspect of this story is the actual meaning of 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.

' ; Most people think that is a term meant just for a woman trying to find a man to fall in love with. In this story, it has a complete different meaning. Through the grandmother's eyes, it was not only good men that were gone, but it was also the good life. I believe she was ready for death, but this was not the death that she wanted.