Analysis of A Good Man Is hard To Find
Self- awareness is the ability for people to recognize who they are in the context of the wider society. It is through self- awareness that people will know their strengths, weaknesses, thoughts and even emotions. It is possible that there are those who will lack it and, therefore, fail to understand and know who they really are in the context of their immediate surroundings. Self- awareness generally helps people make ethical choices in life, and lack of it can lead to grave mistakes. In A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor, the presence of self- awareness or lack of it makes different characters make right or wrong decisions that impact their fate in the long run. Those who lacked it like grandmother and the Misfit are the cause of the sad fate that befalls the family. Self- awareness, therefore, plays a role in helping people make ethical decisions in life.
Going by the very example of the grandmother, she passes for a selfish person who wants her needs to be met without considering that there are other persons who get affected. The grandmother’s lack of self- awareness of her flaws leads the entire family to a death trap. If only she could have let Bailey drive to their intended destination, and then perhaps they might not have perished. It is imperative that a person’s thoughts be guided by not only their interests, but also the interests of others. That is the only sure way of letting self- awareness work for the benefit of everyone. Attachment to vulnerable, objects, things and thoughts (Nussbaum 93) leads to vulnerability. Decisions can either go well or badly, but then it is imperative for anyone to be guided by the principle of having other people’s interests at heart because that is a sure way of making ethical choices in life.
Sometimes it is good not to look at material value of anything before passing judgments or making any decisions. The material side of life is judgmental and can make people perceive others wrongly. It is also important to look at the values that self- awareness instills in people. Persons with a heart that gives other people a chance to be who they are; are self- aware and will not judge the actions of others. For instance, they will make a decision not to give importance to things that are of economic value” (Ferrari 128). The grandmother insists on telling her grandchildren to be good people and listen when she is not good at listening and respecting the decisions of other people herself. If only she had not insisted on changing their journey destination from Florida to Tennessee!
The Misfit has his self- construed perception about belief and God. He has had a bad experience in life as a convicted criminal, and so has been exposed to that sad part of life in prison. He is not a believer in religion, and his criminal record may have made him harbor a lot of negativities to the point of committing murder. The sole act of killing the grandmother and her family shows his total disregard for the sanctity of life as preached by Christianity. It, therefore, becomes clear that the Misfit lacks self- awareness and that is the reason he commits heinous crimes without blinking. It is unethical to go against societal customs and values just like the Misfit. Lack of self- awareness leads the Misfit through the path of destruction that is otherwise unfit. If he had even a little bit of it, then perhaps he could not have been a criminal in the first place.
Good character is tantamount to leading an ethical nature. Society anticipates for people who are responsible and behave as the norm dictates. It is for that same reason that the grandmother is keen on instilling good moral values in her children. Good moral values are supposed to act as a blueprint for determining whether a person is virtuous or not, and this is typical of virtue ethics (Tannsjo 91). Good character is achievable through training, and it is not surprising that the grandmother was keen on ensuring that she taught her grandchildren what was expected of them by society. If only they were to follow her teachings, then they would have become responsible members of the community, who are able to make ethical decisions for themselves.
Beyond an individual is a society that expects good character and virtues out of everyone. It is for this reason that naturally, the misfit and grandmother were expected to conform to societal expectations so as to make the right choices that could not harm anyone. But as fate could have it, they are the exact opposite because they are selfish and only have their own interests to serve. Ethical choices in life are what make the world a better place, and people to be considerate of others. It all begins by with simple rules like courtesy and respect for oneself, others and what society upholds. And apparently, grandmother and the Misfit miss out on that.
Works Cited
Ferrari, Sternberg, ed. Self-Awareness: Its Nature and Development. New York: The Guilford Press, 1998. Print.
Nussbaum, Martha. The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Print.
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard To Find and Other Stories: HBJ Modern Classic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1992. Print Tannsjo, Torbjorn. Understanding Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 2008. Print.
