Essays on Flannery O'Connor

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Among American writers of the twentieth century, Flannery O’Connor holds a special place and has solid reputation as a representative of the unique American fiction subgenre – southern gothic. Despite being rather short, most of her stories convey important moral, cultural and philosophical messages while her peculiar techniques and choices reflect her own background. Indeed, Flannery O’Connor is among the writers whose literary legacy is closely intertwined with her biography, her family background, beliefs, experiences and challenges she was burdened with in the course of her rather brief life. The complex set of environmental factors which shaped her ...

There can be no denial of the fact that literature is the true mirror of the society of the world. Indeed, there are innumerous examples of seminal literary works penned by various literary artists that have come to reflect the picture of the individual and the society with utmost perfection and artistic skill. As such, one can take into reckoning the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor that can very well be taken to be an exploration of the degeneration of the individual self and the moral values of life in the ...

Two stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Where are You Going? Where Have you Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates have the same style of the storytelling. They both tell us tragic stories that could easily happen in real life. In both of the stories women are the main characters. However, both of the stories have their similarities and differences. One of the common themes for A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Where are You Going? Where Have you Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates is elusiveness of ...

“By and large, people in the South still conceive of humanity in theological terms. While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted”, - is one of the most mentioned quotes of Flannery O’Connor. The southern literary icon, who was a Catholic, did not create a positive image of people’s stance on religion in spite of her own faith. O’Connor could finish her stories in a more positive way to write a more Catholic-like literature. However, her mix of grotesque Southern scenes and Christianity created more “timeless, and more impactful than the fluffy, always ...

Flannery O’Connor is known for her knack of incorporating Southern values and religious beliefs in all of her stories and novels. Often, the main character goes through a horrific event that extracts views and interpretations of religion from the characters as well as the audience. “Good Country People” is a story about a woman and her daughter, and their reluctance to escape their small world on their country farm. Mrs. Hopewell, who lives with her daughter Hulga, welcomes a bible salesman named Manley Pointer into their house one day under the impression that he is wholesome and innocent. ...

As we know about many Southerners, the social class segregation was intense and those who believed that they were in a more prominent social position in the society treated the minority groups with unhuman nor respect. Flannery O’Connor is one of the numerous writers who have influenced the treatment of the minority groups in her society. In addition, O’Connor brings to life the way people continue to abuse religion as a tool for show the negative treatment of “others” in the society. Mrs. Turpin like many other white privileged persons in the old South, reveal hasher contempt ...

Literature: Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find.

Introduction The play, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is an interesting play based on a real life situation occurrence. The story is not only interesting, but also exemplary due to the unique stylistic devices used (Gooch 61). The storyline is captivating and out rightly capture the mind of any reader. The story was written by a renowned writer in the United States of America, the ever amazing Flannery O’Connor in the year 1953. Despite the story’s old age, it still remains an outstanding work in the field of literature. Furthermore, the story was a major ...

Works Cited Entry for Short Story:

O'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find, and Other Stories. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1955. Print.

Three General Comments About the author

Flannery O Connor is considered of the 20th century greatest author of the short story. Due to her inspiration in the anthology of short stories, O’ Connor received sever awards; she had several book collections, which detailed her legacy as an author and a true inspirational figure to the society (Simpson 111).

Works Cited Entry for this Statement

Simpson, Melissa. Flannery O'connor: A Biography. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood, 2005. Print. Also, Flannery O Connor is the only great Christian author this nation has produced, and her stake ...

Thesis: This paper will analyse the undertones and themes of O’Connor’s Christian faith and southern life in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People.”

Introductory Paragraph

Thesis statement 2. Body Paragraph 1- Religion and Faith

A. Background information on O’Connor’s religious dedication and Christian faith

B. Examples from the texts 3. Body Paragraph 2- Southern Background

Background on O’Connor’s Southern roots and attitudes

Examples from the texts 4. Conclusion Paragraph

Summary of thesis and restatement

Conclusion Flannery O’Connor and her Personal Theme Flannery O’Connor was a writer who liked to focus her stories in the American Gothic tradition, focusing on grotesque characters and deep thrills. In her short stories “A Good Man is Hard to ...

The Displaced Person movie review

How often in life some considerable things that are passing by people prefer not to perceive at all. It is easer to fence yourself off the obscure situation, to take the role of the unbiased arbitrator and just observe. However, there comes a day that all your indifference will strike a knock-down blow. To prevent such an unpleasant moment or avoid these consequences at all you should learn to take every event in life into your own consideration and try to experience them as an instructive lesson. If you recognize your own fears and make efforts to overcome them ...

Introduction

The short story, a good man is hard to find by Flannery O’Connor, first appeared in her publication in 1955. It has, over the years, been regarded as one of her best work of short fiction writings. O’Connor is known for her writing characteristics; a contrast of violent action with humorously and carefully drawn characters and a philosophy that underscores her devout Roman Catholic faith. Literature critics have appreciated how she involves her catholic faith belief with the story. She brings out the role of God and how his grace plays part in the lives of ordinary people. The story ...

The story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor is about a family that goes out to vacation. The Grandmother gives direction on the road to follow and then they find themselves in Tennessee and not Florida as planned. The family is set to perish at the end of it all and clues are given throughout the story that foreshadows the violent ending that is in store for the family. They had gone too far when they realized they had taken the wrong road. The family is set to perish not because of natural mishaps ...

In her own way, Flannery O’Connor appears to have been notorious in literary circles for much the same reason as Tim Tebow’s isolation within the National Football League: her zeal for her faith caused others to view her with more than a bit of superstition. Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and other novels, tells a story when O’Connor was describing a knot that had a resemblance to the face of Jesus. After that comparison, Highsmith decided that she did not like O’Connor (Vafidis, web). However, for those who know O’Connor principally through her fiction, her ...

Introduction

Mary Flannery O’Conner was an American fiction writer, novelist, and famous essayist born on 25 March 1925 in Georgia, USA and was the only child of Edward F. O’Connor and Regina Cline (Desmond, pp. 97-111). With her abilities and skills to write well and impressive, she proved herself as an amazing religious believer whose body of fiction stories presented her souls’ struggle towards religious knowledge. The 20th century witnesses her as the best storywriter for short stories who would mainly focus upon themes of religion and the life of Southern. A range of reviews and commentaries with ...

The novel A Good Man is Hard to Find written by Flannery O’Connor tells a story about a family that is going out on vacation. The story uses a couple of literary aesthetics to tell the story. One theme that stands out is his evident use of religion, and Christianity for that matter. Through the Grandmother and the misfit, one gets to see how a Christ- like incarnation and the grace of God are brought out. There is recognition of divine powers in the story but then one is not mislead when looking at the Misfit as an anti- Christ figure. Nevertheless, ...

One of the traits that is commonly associated with the writing of Southern storyteller Flannery O’Connor is the use of shocking violence in order to advance her rhetorical arguments. One of the more ironic uses of violence occurs when she chooses to use it for the representation of salvation, frequently through the use of characters who are physically and/or spiritually grotesque in nature. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is one of O’Connor’s most popular stories, and it demonstrates this principle. The Misfit is a murderer who shocks a Pharisaically pious grandmother into authentic spiritual awareness even ...

Cathedral by Raymond Carver and A Good Man to Find, by Flannery O’Connor are both fictional stories. In many literary works, there are characters who symbolize how ignorant people are in the society. In a society, many people believe that they are good or perfect, yet inevitably, they have their flaws. In A Good Man to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, and the Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the protagonists in the stories are enforced to deal with situations, which change their values and those of others. These stories talks of real life situations in the society. In the ...

Flannery O, Connor, born Mary Flannery O’ Connor, is the author of two novels but is best known for her short stories. The most popular of these is thought to be A Good Man Is Hard to Find. She is considered a southern writer, who often used the south as a setting. She was not known for using characters that were easy to relate to, yet she is considered one of the most important voices in literary history, according to Harold Bloom’s “Flannery O’ Connor.” Bloom also commented that she used her stories to reflect her own religious values, which ...

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Researchers and scholars have over the years concluded that most of, if not all, of O’Connor Flannery’s works have been influenced by her religious beliefs. Many reviews have therefore aimed at identifying the biblical aspects in her texts. Consequently, her views regarding the society and religion have been the object of criticism with many scholars (Cofer 1). This paper seeks to determine the presence of central Christian mysteries in her novel “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” while at the same time determining the religious beliefs ...

Every human being we have encountered or will ever encounter is a complex end result of multiple influences. Every entity that he is exposed to leaves an impression on his thought process and often times if we sit and analyze one particular person in detail, we surely find remnants of those who have impressed him in his actions and words. It is therefore possible to critique or appraise him with reference to his inspirations. This paper aims to dwell on the work of the distinguished fiction writer T.C Boyle and in doing so will highlight the influence of another prominent ...

The main character in the story, ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O’Connor is the unnamed grandmother. She is an Irk woman who lives with Bailey and his family (Flannery, 176). In the story titled ‘Revelation’, the main protagonist is Mrs. Ruby Turpin. The grandmother is manipulative. First she manipulates her son Bailey in going to Florida instead of Tennessee which she does successfully. Her manipulation in clued threatening her son that he cannot take the children on the way of the run free prisoner called the Misfit. She once again tries to manipulate the ...

ABSTRACT

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the grandmother clearly symbolizes the Old South, and her endless nostalgia for the past is intertwined with issues of race and her contempt for blacks. Although race was only the indirect subject of the story, it underlies the entire text, including the grandmother’s lost world of plantations, Southern ladies and gentlemen, family graveyards and Old Time Religion. She is literally the product of a horse-and-buggy era, but imagines this as a time when people were nicer to each other or at least pretended to have better ...

Introduction

Life has different attractions, points of interest, meanings or attitudes that varies across one’s existence. What might have seemed funny engaging at a young age might be considered irritating or upsetting at a more advanced age. This change in the attitude towards life is part of a process, the process of getting older and it is underlying the generation conflict. The generation conflict theme is common to the short stories that will be comparatively analyzed in this paper, respectively: Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” and Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The generation conflict has distinct ...

A Stroke of Good Fortune is a short story by Flannery O’Connor. It revolves around a woman named Ruby Hill who was unhappy with her life and disappointed when she discovered that she was pregnant. The major theme in the story is denial and discontent. Ruby is discontented with her life and where she lives. She desires to stay in the new subdivisions where she will not have to climb stairs as she goes to her house. Ruby was unhappy because she had to climb the stays each and everyday she goes out in order to reach her house where ...

Flannery O’Connor is a unique writer that succeeded to combine humor and horror in a manner that is unusual for a female writer. In her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” O’Connor intrigued readers with unexpected events and ambiguous characters that are difficult to analyze. She brought up an important theme of good and bad, human grace, and justice. Her personages are bright being described with detachment and clarity. Her ability to apply grotesque is fantastic. It is difficult to distinguish between the most and the least sympathetic characters in the story written by Flannery O’ ...

‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ finds its place among the most eminent of Southern Gothic literature and aptly creates an aura with bizarre events in addition to the eccentric nature of the characters and the flavor of the local land. This genre of literature portrays a sullen and rattling representation of life in the land of American South. The haunting gloom of the tragic history of slavery and the lingering repercussions of a thwarted pride following the Civil war looms over the story. The isolated locales bear testimony to the existence of people and occurrences of events that apparently ...

Flannery O`Connor is one of the America`s greatest writers who was honored and at some point feared by other people. Being a very strong believer of Roman Catholic, she stood strong and protected that spiritual family in whatever it came. She was a devout believer whose writing skills helped in presenting what was majorly known as soul`s struggle in which she termed as the “The stinking shadow of Jesus.” This powerful writer who has shaken the world in her power of writing was born in March 25th 1925, her mother is Regina Cline and the father is Edward O`Connor. ...

Analysis of ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’

‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ is a short story by US American writer Flannery O’Connor. It was published in 1953. The story as many other stories by that author tells the history may have happened in the South of the United States of America. A family is expecting a summer vacation. Grandmother, a central character of the story, wants to go to Tennessee instead of Florida but her son Bailey insists they should go to Florida. Next morning Grandmother is the first in the car and ready to go. She dresses her best to look like a lady. She ...

Abstract

Harry Ashfield and Danny Gospel languish in empty, meaningless lives. Both experience “tipping points” that inspire them to seek the Kingdom of God. Rejecting their pasts, they embark on spiritual journeys that lead them to sublimate everything to their quests for salvation. What follows are uniquely intimate and personal experiences that bring them to an understanding of salvation and the healing love of God.

Seeking Salvation in ‘The River’ and ‘Danny Gospel’

For Christians, salvation is a product of constant striving for a boundless and divine source of love. It is a spiritual phenomenon in perpetual motion. In Flannery O’Connor’s ...

Haunting imagery and earthy Southern speech, hallmarks of Southern gothic literature, suffuse the fiction of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor with a primitive power. In “A Rose for Emily” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” two of American literature’s darkest parables merge shocking realism with characters and themes that transcend violence and decay, profoundly Southern legacies imparted by slavery and war. For Faulkner and O’Connor, violence and decay were core elements of the Southern experience, yet both stories exude a uniquely Southern sense of place, atmosphere and dark humor that bestows a kind of absolution on some ...

In this paper this paper will examine very closely four stories by Flannery O’Connor and justify the use of the phrase ‘the pain of the past’ in the title. O’Connor’s life and background will be briefly examined, as will the historical context in which she wrote her stories. I will also examine other common features that are characteristic of her stories. The use of symbolism in her stories will be considered. The four stories I have chosen are ‘Geranium’, ‘The Barber’, ‘Greenleaf’ and ‘Everything that Rises Must Converge’ Each of the four stories will then be ...