Monday, July 31, 2006
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" Notes and Homework Questions
A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND—NOTES
BY FLANNERY O’CONNOR
FLANNERY O’CONNOR
BORN IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, MARCH 24, 1925.
SHE IS MOST NOTED FOR HER SHORT STORIES.
SHE DIED ON AUGUST 3, 1964 AT THE AGE OF 39.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
INTENSELY IRONIC STORY—THE HORRIFYING EFFECT OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE THREAT OF SUDDEN VIOLENCE AT THE HAND OF AN UNKNOWN ASSAILANT BECOMES A REALITY.
BELIEVING THIS WOULD NEVER OCCUR, THE FAMILY IS LULLED INTO A FALSE SECURITY ABOUT ENCOUNTERING A PSYCHOPATHIC KILLER.
THE GRANDMOTHER’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE MISFIT FORCES HER TO FACE HER MOMENT OF DEATH.
HER ABILITY TO ACCEPT THIS DEATH IS THE SUPREME TEST OF HER FAITH.
THE GRANDMOTHER HAS A MOMENT OF REVELATION THROUGH HER CONCERN AND MATERNAL LOVE.
SHE REALIZES THAT SHE IS JOINED TO THE MISFIT BY THE HUMAN CONDITION.
THE STORY TAKES ITS CHARACTER FROM A REASONABLE USE OF THE UNREASONABLE.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
WHAT MAKES A STORY WORK IS ACTION, GESTURE OF CHARCTER THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER, AND FINDING THE REAL HEART OF THE STORY.
ACTION IS TOTALLY RIGHT AND TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.
AN ELEMENT OF BLACK HUMOR IS SEEN IN THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE MISFIT AND THE GRANDMOTHER.
• Setting—southern town—usually the main characters are women—The time is around the 1940s or 1950s.
• Theme—shows the moment of greatest desire and dread in a simple character’s life.
• Belief and Christianity are played out.
• She also shows the decline of the old South.
Characters
• The Grandmother—is an old lady with fashion ideas and manners—she is talkative, a bit silly, and full of herself. She tries to be manipulative. She thinks she is good, kind and loves her family, but she is also selfish.
• Bailey—is her son. He is impatient a bit silly and angry a lot of time. He attempts to be in charge.
• Mother is the wife of Bailey. She watches the kids and is a bit vacant.
• John Wesley and June Star—The children are wild, say anything and whine. They fight, manipulate their parents and make fun of their grandmother.
• The Misfit—is an escaped convict who looks educated, killed his father. He is chillingly exact, polite and can kill without remorse.
• The Conflict—The family is going on vacation while an escaped convict is on the loose. Grandmother directs the trip and directs them onto a deserted road, where they have an accident. A group of men stop to help them.
• Protagonist and Antagonist
• No one is appealing or sympathetic. Grandmother is the focal point and has a revelation towards the end. The Misfit is the advisory—good and evil are not distinct.
• Climax
• The grandmother recognizes the Misfit at the scene of the accident. The Misfit says it is to bad she recognized him.
• Outcome
• The entire family is shot and killed. Grandmother is the last to be killed. She tries to save herself but only annoys the Misfit.
• Themes—is based on Christianity and Spirituality. We would think the Grandmother represents goodness—but although she talks about goodness, she does not live it. Therefore O’Connor holds that life without spirituality is a living death—even at the end she has a chance of gaining salvation.
• God draws this family back to him forcibly.
• The grandmother is more prime and proper than any other person in the family and therefore compares herself to godliness.
• Another Theme—The dysfunctional family—The parents pay little attention to the grandmother and when they do they are quite rude. The unruly children represent the breakdown or respect and discipline and are a forecast of future generations. The Misfit represents evil.
• Point of View is 3rd person narrative from the perspective of the Grandmother.
It is also limited omniscience and total omniscience in the beginning of the story.
• The Plot—is linear and standard. If they go to Florida they are in danger—Only the end is surprising.
• The author—Flannery O’Connor wrote short stories, novels and essays. A Catholic from the Bible Belt, she laced her fiction with material from her religious background.
• Her vision is chilling—characterized by sudden violence and grotesques.
• She includes Catholic mystery and Southern manners.
HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.
A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND by Flannery O’Connor
A. Briefly answer the following questions.
1. What is the family doing at the beginning of the short story?
2. Who wants to go to Florida?
3. Where does the grandmother want to go?
4. What is the grandmother’s final argument for not going to Florida?
5. What has the grandmother secretly brought with her on the trip?
6. What are some of the normal things that happen on the trip before the accident?
7. What events occur to show that this trip is ordinary?
8. How could the grandmother be narrow-minded and opinionated at Red Sammy’s barbecue eatery?
9. Who is Red Sammy?
10. What events lead up to the accident? (Explain the detour, the cat, and the grandmother)
11. How does the grandmother attempt to talk The Misfit out of killing them?
12. What are The Misfit’s feelings about Jesus?
13. What is grandmother’s moment of grace?
14. Why does she say The Misfit is one of her own children?
BY FLANNERY O’CONNOR
FLANNERY O’CONNOR
BORN IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, MARCH 24, 1925.
SHE IS MOST NOTED FOR HER SHORT STORIES.
SHE DIED ON AUGUST 3, 1964 AT THE AGE OF 39.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
INTENSELY IRONIC STORY—THE HORRIFYING EFFECT OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE THREAT OF SUDDEN VIOLENCE AT THE HAND OF AN UNKNOWN ASSAILANT BECOMES A REALITY.
BELIEVING THIS WOULD NEVER OCCUR, THE FAMILY IS LULLED INTO A FALSE SECURITY ABOUT ENCOUNTERING A PSYCHOPATHIC KILLER.
THE GRANDMOTHER’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE MISFIT FORCES HER TO FACE HER MOMENT OF DEATH.
HER ABILITY TO ACCEPT THIS DEATH IS THE SUPREME TEST OF HER FAITH.
THE GRANDMOTHER HAS A MOMENT OF REVELATION THROUGH HER CONCERN AND MATERNAL LOVE.
SHE REALIZES THAT SHE IS JOINED TO THE MISFIT BY THE HUMAN CONDITION.
THE STORY TAKES ITS CHARACTER FROM A REASONABLE USE OF THE UNREASONABLE.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
WHAT MAKES A STORY WORK IS ACTION, GESTURE OF CHARCTER THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER, AND FINDING THE REAL HEART OF THE STORY.
ACTION IS TOTALLY RIGHT AND TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.
AN ELEMENT OF BLACK HUMOR IS SEEN IN THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE MISFIT AND THE GRANDMOTHER.
• Setting—southern town—usually the main characters are women—The time is around the 1940s or 1950s.
• Theme—shows the moment of greatest desire and dread in a simple character’s life.
• Belief and Christianity are played out.
• She also shows the decline of the old South.
Characters
• The Grandmother—is an old lady with fashion ideas and manners—she is talkative, a bit silly, and full of herself. She tries to be manipulative. She thinks she is good, kind and loves her family, but she is also selfish.
• Bailey—is her son. He is impatient a bit silly and angry a lot of time. He attempts to be in charge.
• Mother is the wife of Bailey. She watches the kids and is a bit vacant.
• John Wesley and June Star—The children are wild, say anything and whine. They fight, manipulate their parents and make fun of their grandmother.
• The Misfit—is an escaped convict who looks educated, killed his father. He is chillingly exact, polite and can kill without remorse.
• The Conflict—The family is going on vacation while an escaped convict is on the loose. Grandmother directs the trip and directs them onto a deserted road, where they have an accident. A group of men stop to help them.
• Protagonist and Antagonist
• No one is appealing or sympathetic. Grandmother is the focal point and has a revelation towards the end. The Misfit is the advisory—good and evil are not distinct.
• Climax
• The grandmother recognizes the Misfit at the scene of the accident. The Misfit says it is to bad she recognized him.
• Outcome
• The entire family is shot and killed. Grandmother is the last to be killed. She tries to save herself but only annoys the Misfit.
• Themes—is based on Christianity and Spirituality. We would think the Grandmother represents goodness—but although she talks about goodness, she does not live it. Therefore O’Connor holds that life without spirituality is a living death—even at the end she has a chance of gaining salvation.
• God draws this family back to him forcibly.
• The grandmother is more prime and proper than any other person in the family and therefore compares herself to godliness.
• Another Theme—The dysfunctional family—The parents pay little attention to the grandmother and when they do they are quite rude. The unruly children represent the breakdown or respect and discipline and are a forecast of future generations. The Misfit represents evil.
• Point of View is 3rd person narrative from the perspective of the Grandmother.
It is also limited omniscience and total omniscience in the beginning of the story.
• The Plot—is linear and standard. If they go to Florida they are in danger—Only the end is surprising.
• The author—Flannery O’Connor wrote short stories, novels and essays. A Catholic from the Bible Belt, she laced her fiction with material from her religious background.
• Her vision is chilling—characterized by sudden violence and grotesques.
• She includes Catholic mystery and Southern manners.
HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.
A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND by Flannery O’Connor
A. Briefly answer the following questions.
1. What is the family doing at the beginning of the short story?
2. Who wants to go to Florida?
3. Where does the grandmother want to go?
4. What is the grandmother’s final argument for not going to Florida?
5. What has the grandmother secretly brought with her on the trip?
6. What are some of the normal things that happen on the trip before the accident?
7. What events occur to show that this trip is ordinary?
8. How could the grandmother be narrow-minded and opinionated at Red Sammy’s barbecue eatery?
9. Who is Red Sammy?
10. What events lead up to the accident? (Explain the detour, the cat, and the grandmother)
11. How does the grandmother attempt to talk The Misfit out of killing them?
12. What are The Misfit’s feelings about Jesus?
13. What is grandmother’s moment of grace?
14. Why does she say The Misfit is one of her own children?
# posted by Sister Pat / English @ 6:07 AM 
