"A Good Man IS Hard To Find" if you ain't lookin....

WOW! I love this story. Flannery O' Connor really created a masterpiece when she wrote the short story "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." 


There really are many ways to analyze this story and I think it helps if you know a little background in the Catholic religion, as did O'Connor. 


The story gave me the HeeBee GeeBee's for sure! But also, I compared the story to Welty's "A Worn Path," immediately after reading it. The main reasons were that both stories were set in the South and both had a ton of symbols. Another reason was that they both struggled with some form of internal conflict. The Grandmother in Welty's story has to struggle with racism but also her grandsons condition. The Grandmother in O'Connors story struggles with finding grace, although she doesn't know it until it is too late. 


I guess both of these stories are classified as "Southern Gothic," which I would have to agree with. SG is its own sub genre of American Lit. that deals directly with issues of the South. It also uses irony, supernatural events, and unusual events. SG also tends to use racial tension and gun violence. 


One critical analysis I found on EPSCO said that the entire timing of the story added up exactly on a real U.S. map. All of the driving and landmarks were really on the map, except Timothy. When the family stops at the town of Timothy to eat at Red Sammy's, that is the only town that O'Connor made up (unless it is so small it can't be located with a map). Critics say that she chose the name Timothy specifically for the book of Timothy in the New Testament of the Bible. The verses in this book apparently deal with "how to be a good person and Christian", according to the article I read. 


(Source: Bryant, Hallman B. "Reading the map in "A Good Man Is Hard To Find.")


O'Connor uses irony, foreshadow, and biblical references to really underline the idea of the "Good."