Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find - Essay Example

A Good Man is hard to find The Misfit, the Grandmother and Jesus were all punished for something they didn’t do. Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross for telling the truth and for preaching the true religion of God, he never deserved that fate. The Misfit is in fact a psychopath as he kills his own father without remembering it how he did it. He recalls that a psychologist told him in prison that he had done such a thing. He lives his life by his own religious code and finds meanings to his life by being mean.

By his own accounts and morals, he is innocent and he didn’t deserve to be sent to prison in the first place. The Grandmother is very irritating woman. During the car ride, she lies about the dimensions of a house just to make it sound more interesting to the children. And when she realizes that the house she’s been bragging about is not even in that state, she panics and kicks the cage holding the cat. She doesn’t do that on purpose. She is annoying but she doesn’t deserve to be shot three times in the chest.

In fact she tries to make a connection with the Misfit during the confrontation and when she feels sorry for Misfit and about the way he has been treated all his life, she tries to physically touch him and at that moment Misfit’s henchmen shoot the old woman. It is very true that many people only claim to be Christians but in the dealings of their lives, their behavior, their conduct and their daily conversations are devoid of the spirit of Christianity. The grandmother is blessed with a loving son but she is not thankful for it and doesn’t actually care about him.

In fact she treats him as a tool and takes advantage of his obedience. In the book, after the car accident Misfit and his men seize the family and they take family members in the woods and shoot them. Seeing her fate very clear the grandmother suddenly remembers God and Jesus and turns soft. She asks Misfit to pray so that his soul may be spared for the sins he has committed all his life. A very religious and philosophical conversation takes place towards the end of the story between the Misfit and the Grandmother, where Misfit tries to mock Jesus by saying that he created a lot of confusion by raising dead people (in hidden words, he mocks the whole concept of heaven and hell and the day of judgment).

To this, grandmother agrees somewhat by saying that probably he didn’t raise the dead after all but when she gets shot in the chest, she falls down with her legs crossed in to her grave, representing her faith in a dramatic and symbolic way. Works Cited"Flannery OConnor A Good Man Is Hard to Find Criticism." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. ."SparkNotes: A Good Man Is Hard to Find: Plot Overview." SparkNotes: Todays Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. .