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A Good Man is Hard to Find | Flannery O'Connor | Summary | Neb English Notes
A Good Man is Hard to Find
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ABOUT STORY
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
This short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" was written by Flannery O'Connor, an author from America. It is a Southern Gothic short story. This short story was published in 1953. The story is about a family and its brutal murder by an escaped criminal named The Misfit and his associates. The family is murdered in the woods while the family is travelling from Georgia to Florida. This story explores themes of violence, goodness, sin and redemption.
MAIN PLOT SUMMARY
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
The grandmother wants to convince her son Bailey and his wife to go on vacation to east Tennessee instead of Florida. She tells them about an article on an escaped convict called The Misfit heading towards Florida. She also tells them that the kids, John Wesley and June Star, have already been to Florida.
During the trip, the family stops at a restaurant. The restaurant, called Tower, was owned by Red Sammy Butts. Red Sam complains about people saying that people can't be trusted because he let two men buy gasoline on credit and they haven't returned. The grandmother asks about The Misfit, and Red Sam's wife worries he might rob them. They argue that it's hard to find a good man. Both Red Sam and the grandmother feel sad about the state of the world.
In the car, the grandmother wakes up from a nap and remembers that the plantation she visited is somewhere nearby. She lies about a secret panel in the house to make it more interesting. The kids get excited about it and persuade Bailey to go. The grandmother directs them down a dirt road, and the family goes deep into the woods.
The grandmother realises the house is in Tennessee, not Georgia. Shocked at her error, she jerks her feet. The cat, Pitty Sing, escapes from the basket, startling Bailey, who crashes the car. The kids' mother breaks her shoulder, but no one else is hurt. The grandmother decides not to admit her mistake to Bailey.
A passing car suddenly stops, and three men with guns get out. The grandma thinks she knows one of them. She screams when she realises the man is The Misfit. She asks him if he'd shoot a lady, and he says he wouldn't like to do this. The grandmother insists that he's a good man from "nice people," and The Misfit agrees, praising his parents.
The grandmother keeps saying The Misfit is a good man while he orders the other two, Hiram and Bobby Lee, to take Bailey and John Wesley into the woods. The grandmother adjusts her hat, but its brim breaks. The Misfit admits that he's not good, but not the worst. The grandmother asks if he prays, and just as he says no, she hears two gunshots. The Misfit reveals that he went to prison for a crime he can't remember, and a psychiatrist told him that he killed his father. The grandmother tells him to pray for help from Jesus, but The Misfit insists he's fine on his own.
Both Bobby Lee and Hiram return from the woods. Bobby Lee hands The Misfit Bailey's shirt. The Misfit tells the kids' mother to go into the woods with the baby and June Star, guided by Bobby Lee and Hiram. The grandmother begins chanting, "Jesus, Jesus." In the meantime, The Misfit claims he's similar to Jesus, but Jesus is without any crime. He opines that he gave himself that name because his punishment doesn't seem fair for the crime people say he committed. A gunshot is heard from the woods. The grandmother pleads with The Misfit not to shoot a lady. Again, two more gunshots come from the woods, and she cries out for Bailey.
The Misfit says that Jesus caused confusion by raising the dead. He says if it's true, everyone should follow Jesus. But if he didn't really raise the dead, then people should just enjoy being mean on this planet.
The grandmother agrees that maybe Jesus didn't raise the dead and calls The Misfit "one of my own children" before he shoots her three times in the chest. Bobby Lee and Hiram come back, and The Misfit says the grandmother could have been a good woman if someone had been around "to shoot her every minute of her life." He believes life has no real pleasure.
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