Question

Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

After reading "A Good Man is Hard to Find," answer the following questions. Please be sure to answer in complete sentences.

1. Give specific two examples of how the ending of the story is foreshadowed in the story.

2. Describe the Misfit - does he feel any sympathy or empathy for anyone?

3, When the grandmother's head clears for an instant (paragraph 136), what does she suddenly understand?

4. What does one learn about life or what is a theme of this story? Consider the change in the grandmother's attitude toward life vs. the Misfit's outlook on life. Who is "bad" in this story?

Answer 1

1. The ending of the story is very tragic. The grandmother even calls Misfit as her son. Yet he kills the grandmother. It is really a cruel and brutal event. Therefore such ending reflects the idea that there is no good man in the world.

2. Misfit is a beast. He can never be considered as a human being. So, there is no question of sympathy in him.  

3. Grandmother always feels her morally superior. She believes that with her morality she can impress anyone. But during the conversation with Misfit she feels the hollowness of her moral sense. She feels weak and even she utters an epiphany. But at last she fails ti impress Misfit.

4. The main theme of the story is the them of becoming good man. It is not always applicable in life. It is the sense of a good man to follow blindly the religious faith and moral codes. It is the real sense of a good man to have the ability of the self-judgement.