Short Story Analysis - Book Report/Review Example

Short Story Analysis – A Good Man Is Hard To Find Introduction The short story d “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” was authored by Flannery O’Connor and became available to the eyes of public during the period of 1955. The short story focuses on how a family is destroyed due to three offenders who had escaped. In this story the author quite effectively uses several themes including god’s grace, exploitation, and morality to depict the ideas and values of human beings during different situations.
Body
In the short story there is a clear depiction of the mistaken meaning of goodness or morality. The story uses the grandmother to depict that the term morality has clearly been misunderstood by the common man. In the story the grandmother has her own definition of morality. She believes that a moral person is one who shares mutual moral values that the grandmother believes to be true. For example the grandmother holds the idea that killing a lady is a bad deed and she believes that the Misfit would not kill her since she is a female (OConnor 50). But the misfit clearly has different codes of morals and alas does shoot her to death.
The short story even reiterates the belief in grace of God and the receivers of this grace. The Christian religion promotes the idea that God is the decider of who goes to hell and who experiences heaven and even the worst individual’s end up experiencing God’s grace (Augustine 460). In the story the grand mother has been depicted as a clear evil being because she manipulates others and believes that she is superior to others. But towards the end of the story she realizes that she has being doing wrong and discriminating against others and she realizes that individuals should not be classified by their ethnicity or race and she accepts that the Misfit is similar to her and both of them are equal and children of God (OConnor 124).
Mainly the story revolves around morality and the concept of God’s grace but throughout the story there is a clear depiction of manipulation and how people use it to benefit themselves. There are various incidences of manipulation that have been carried out by the grandmother and she is a kind of person who does not even spare her own family to manipulate other in order to gain benefits. For example: throughout her life she has been concerned about her looks and personality and has been materialistic but when she had a gun on her head she turns to religion to save herself from death.
Conclusion
In the short story titled “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, the author uses several themes to paint a clear picture of what individuals think and believe in different incidences. The story clearly exhibits that the wrong meaning of morality that most of the individuals follow. Human beings believe that their moral codes are the codes that all individuals should follow. The story depicts and reiterates the concept of God’s grace and promotes the idea that God even spares those who have done wrong. The story depicts how even the most materialistic people may manipulate religion in order to save their own life.
Works Cited
Augustine,. Saint Augustine. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2002. Print.
OConnor, Flannery, and Frederick Asals. A Good Man Is Hard To Find. 1st ed. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1993. Print. Read More