Essays on Misfit

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 ...

Coming-of-age novel The House on Mango Street composed by Sandra Cisneros represents a mosaic of various events that shaped life of Latina girl named Esperanza Cordero. Due to the writing style and vignette form this novel presents reader with vivid but at the same time incomplete pieces of memories that are aimed at conveying particular emotion rather than facts. It should be mentioned that inspiration for writing this novel was Cisneros`s life along with stories from people she knew or met. With this in mind one may observe mixture of semi-real and semi-fictional stories that reveal reality of ...

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 ...

The society has changed and crime is increased and good behavior reduced among the youths which is not good for civilization. The unity in the society is not anymore which caused writers such as O’Conner and Oates to write on the behavior of the current society. It is with no doubt that a good man is hard to find in the present society due to loss of trust and many young people having adopted bad lifestyles. This means that the arguments written by O’Connor and Oates are very good in giving the picture of what the society ...

First published in the year 1953, this short story symbolizes lots of characters and themes, which characterized the typical O'Connor’s story. In most instances, she banked on available resources to induce certain themes to her stories. These resources could be the people she encountered or the books she read such as journals and newspapers. For instance, the obsessive assassin (Misfit) who massacres a whole household as evident in this novel is from two convicts who intimidated residents of the Atlanta region in the early 1950’s. As a result, it is, therefore, important to discuss how significant 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 ...

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Individual Differences and Fit

First and foremost, she must be conscientious with keen senses for detail. This includes a sharp memory and an ability to focus on any task at hand. She must manage time very well in terms of punctuality and meeting deadlines. There were many instances in the movie where she has to listen to her boss quickly passing instructions. She was assisting a person who is running a company in a hands-on manner and is willing to take on many details. She will be expected to handle the least important but numerous tasks. She must be organized. ( ...

Abstract

“A Good Man is Hard to find” is a story about a woman, grandmother, who feels that she is superior to others. She believes that she is better in the eyes of God than any other person. The story focuses on five main themes, good versus evil, family, religion, Manipulation, and society and class. This will be my literature of discussion. I will focus on the themes to establish the rationale and the use of characters to portray such themes. I will also play a devil’s advocate so as to establish the genuine position of each character in ...

Flannery O'Connor is a master in the art of the short story. A Good Man is hard to find has become a classic and that controversial end scene which was depressing, cynical and hazing at the same time describes her work, unpredictable (O'Connor, and Frederick 31).

Biographical Information

She was born in the year 1925 on the twenty-fifth of March. She authored thirty two short stories and two novels. Apart from writing stories, she also wrote some commentaries and did some reviews. Thomas Aquinas and William Faulkner are some of the people she credits with inspiring her work. O’Conner used ...

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 ...

In this paper there will be the analysis of the themes that are present in a chosen short story. Themes can be defined as the prevalent issues that arise from a story. The story to be looked into is A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor. This is a tragic story of a family that decides to go for a vacation and they end up being murdered. There are various things during the story that foreshadow their death like the graveyard that has six graves and the hearse that the character known as the Misfit ...

A Good Man Is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, was published as part of a larger Anthology in 1953, and is today among the most well-known of O’Connor’s works. The short story takes place in the American Southeast and follows a family traveling on family vacation from Geiogria to Florida. The grandmother, who is blatantly selfish, wants to go to Tennessee instead, and starts fights with everyone in the family in hopes of getting her way. Further, the family’s travels seem to parallel the escape of a violent man known as The Misfit, who ...

Flannery O’ Connor’s, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” is a compelling story about a grandmother attempting to show everybody how proper she is. The story, however, is useless without symbolism. Using the grandmother’s hat, nostalgia, and the definition of the good man itself, we see how the grandmother wants to represent herself. These three things also symbolize who the grandmother really is, and represent her demise, propelling the story to a brutal climax. While symbols are noticeable throughout the entirety of, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” perhaps the most obvious use of it ...

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

In Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” the author paints a rather effective picture of heartbreak. However, rather than showing the devastation of Louise Mallard’s devastation upon hearing news of her husband’s accidental death in the train wreck, Chopin takes an unexpected turn. As the reader experiences Louise’s shock at the news of her husband’s death one is led to believe that she is overwhelmed with shock and unable to comprehend the tragedy of becoming a widow. Instead, as the final scene in the story unfolds the reader is made aware ...

I chose A Good Man is Hard to Find, a short story by Flannery O’Conner to work on. I have read this story several times and I think I am good at analyzing it. I like the story and the way O’Conner has described different characters, especially the grandmother, who seems like just another normal grandma, but ends up leading the family through the vacation of doom because of her character. The article that I chose is written by Stephen Sparrow and its title is Grace Versus the Glamour of Evil in A Good Man Is Hard ...

In a short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, which was written in 1953, Flannery O’Connor describes a tragedy happened in a family because of how the grandmother behaved. O’Connor shows the grandmother as a person deserving compassion and pity at first, but then the actions of this character start to cause the reader feel anger and condemnation. The grandmother’s character does not stay the same throughout the story, but changes as the character realizes her mistakes and flaws when it is too late.

The grandmother is presented in the first sentence of the story as a simple ...

The grandmother, in A Good Man is Hard to Find passes for a manipulator who wants to use every chance she gets to influence what the rest of the family members do. Her relationship with the rest of the family members is not as good because she constantly passes judgments on others, criticizing them

The characters in the story are not realistic because they are a complete replica of a family at war. It is not a close knit family and this is made worse by the grandmother who is pretentious and children who are disrespectful and aggressive, the father is full of ...

The European Union can be considered today as one of the world’s most influential powers as it represents twenty-eight member states in major international and even regional affairs. Many member nations see the EU as the result of their desire to ensure European integration to keep peace in the region. Considering the membership of these European states to the regional organization, it is a question for member countries and non-member countries as to who is more influential or powerful: the EU or the member countries? For some experts, the member countries are more powerful than the EU because they ...

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 ...

Background

In a world of teen-movie, students of the high school are defined by distinct groups such as boys can be jocks, or the heartthrobs and girls can be princesses. Both genders can be geeks, and everybody else out of these lines is a misfit. American Teen, the documentary of 2008 directed by Nanette Burstein demonstrates the story and life circumstances of five adolescents. The character chosen for this study is Hannah Bailey, who is an artist, writer, and musician and a wannabe filmmaker. She is a girl with liberal views that are not considered appropriate and is not a good fit for the ...

Compare both stories in terms of the representation of evil

The characters in the short stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne allow their existence to be transformed by evil threats. The diversion taken by a family in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” causes mayhem, while at the same time, the wrong turn in “Young Goodman Brown” directs him to misery. It is evident that Brown, Misfit and the Grandmother differ on the way they handle evil. Nevertheless, these characters go astray resulting to isolation from the society. In both stories, evil is represented by journeys ...

Richard Wright

Introduction: Richard Wright wrote Black Boy in 1944 and published it 1945. Although it follows Native Son in the publishing history, Black Boy is about his life as a child and a young man. At that time, he was still living in the United States. He had been active in the Communist Party but withdrew in 1942. It is clearly autobiographical and used his family names as the character names. It reflects its era by bringing to light how people suffered in the racially intolerant American society of the times. It is important because it clearly shows how these laws ...

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 ...

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, published in 1955, is an excellent exposition of grace and sin. It is also based on the notion that existence of God is is depended on morality. This story is about grandmother and his journey from being a manipulative and selfish woman to the realization of being graceful. This story is based on the core notion that one feels the reality of life when they are faced with the worst situation in life. The grandmother who is the central character in this story tries to convince her family to ...

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Traditional convention suffered a string of devastating shocks in the first half of the twentieth century. A world war, a Great Depression, and another world war shattered many people’s faith in traditional institutions. A propos, Flannery O’Connor dispenses with the conventional tropes of hero and villain in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” She gives the reader a villain who is not evil and a hero who is not good. Despite the third-person narration, this is the Grandmother’s story. The narrator presents her thoughts and feelings, but the other characters exhibit no evidence of inner life. They speak ...

A good man is hard to find by Flannery O’Connor is a novel that deals with a very enigmatic character. The misfit, as he is known in the novel, is a character that keeps the audience guessing if he really is the culprit or not till the very end of the novel. However, the author has written this particular novel in a very ironical pattern, and it lays down many clues that the misfit is the culprit suffering from psychological problems. The main character, the misfit, is shown as a person suffering from many psychological problems trying to seek the truth about the ...

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- ...

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 ...

In O’Connor’s “A Good Man is hard to find” and Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner,” both writers look at the destructive nature of the family. Although the setting and conflict is different in both stories, the writers choose to show that all families have disagreements with each other. These disagreements often lead to negative reactions to the members of the family. In “The Rocking Horse Winner,” the story centers on a young boy’s need to experience a positive relationship with his mother. He tries to win her love, but fails in his attempts. Similarly, the grandmother in “ ...

<Put your name here> <Put the name of your school / University here> Willy the central character in this play is an unfortunate misfit in professional in both personal and professional lives, with a delusion of pomposity and attainment of great success. He is blessed to have a dedicated and committed partner in Linda, who protects his ego in an effort to maintain a semblance of an order in life. Willy, a failure sales professional, believes that he is central to the success of his company and that is the reason why the owner of the company had him ...

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 ...

Social phobia is a psychological disorder that makes a person a social misfit. The affected person finds it difficult to fit in any social gathering or any activity that involves people. Depending on the environment they have been brought up in, such a person may only feel free around his or her close family members. Social phobia is a common occurrence in the society with millions of people in United States affected. However, the disorder is usually looked at as a personality, and therefore not giving it, the treatment attention required. A low self-esteem is just one of the symptoms exhibited by a person suffering from ...

Mothers should be punished for giving birth to Drug Addicted Children under the following justifications; Mothers are the most important unit in the impacting of morals to their children. In the event criminal tendencies of children stem from the same mothers, it is reasonable to charge mothers of the crime that associates them to lack of duty of care and absolute recklessness (IFC International). Similarly, the event that leads to the giving birth to criminally oriented children can be as a consequence of blatant intentions by the same mothers. Mothers should be at a position that enforces them to go ...

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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 ...

‘Instructor’s name’

Short fiction is one of the oldest forms of literature and has been there throughout most part of the human civilization in the form of fairy tales, parables and myths. The current model of short literature took form sometimes during the early nineteenth century in North America, and was popularized by the periodical journals. All through the history of art many forms of literature were famous during a given era, like the drama in the sixteenth century and essays in the eighteenth century. But throughout most of the nineteenth century, novels and short stories were the most popular forms of ...

Flannery O’Connor is a famous author whose work has been extensively read. In her short story titled ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’, she addresses a number of social concern issues. Although she insists that readers of the short story should not subject it to interpretation, there are certain deep-seated issues that are implied by the story. A number of publications by different people have been made to address these issues. This research paper used three publications to find out if the story has an inclination to the Christian religion. A self-righteous Christian grandmother is perturbed by the ...

Generally the world comprises of two types of people; good and evil and no human is perfect. However, most of the good people have decent conscience and morals whereas evil people lack the guilt or conscience. Readers are shown by Flannery a realistic look on their own mortality in the story. It is all about a family; father, mother, two children and grandmother, starting out on vacation to Florida. On their way from Georgia, the family takes a detour which changes their lives forever. The writer creates a theme of good vs. bad through use of the literary elements like characterization and ...

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 ...

Plot Analysis

The story begins with a grandmother trying to convince her family not to go to Florida. She prefers to visit friends in east Tennessee. During her initial conversation, the grandmother introduces the character, Misfit, a serial killer who has just been released from federal penitentiary. She says that she could not answer to her conscience if the family had an encounter with Misfit. However, her pleas to her son and daughter-in-law fall into deaf ears. While passing plantations the grandmother recalls a plantation she had visited years back being nearby. The children insist on visiting the plantation and their father is ...

The Grandmother

In this story, this character considers herself morally superior than the rest of the people basically because she is a lady. This character makes frequent judgments on others. She claims that her conscience is the main driving force in her life and she considers herself perfect in the way she does her activities. She claims that she could not afford to allow her children to walk in the same direction like Misfit did so that her conscience is not compromised. This character also criticized the mother of the children by claiming that she never allowed the children to travel in ...

Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

The search for the truth is pursuit that has occupied people for as long as humankind has existed; some look for it in science or medicine, some try to find it in art or literature, and others seek it in philosophy or religion. The satisfaction a doctor feels when diagnosing and successfully treating a patient, the pride of an artist creating an excellent portrait, and the joy of the faithful when they feel God has answered a prayer are similar feelings. These people feel that the truth has led to a positive outcome for themselves and others. However, the truth is not always ...

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 ...

An Argumentative Paper about the Books Good Man is Hard to Find (1955) and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wing (1965)

Introduction

This essay is about the books Good Man is Hard to Find (1955) and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wing (1965). "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor talks about a Southeast family that is about to begin a journey through the South. Misfit with his group murders the whole family members. O'Connor's primary social issue was societal hindrances. All through the story, there is consistent evaluation among those who fit in to community ...

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 ...

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 ...

All O’Conners’ stories have instances of violence. In the story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the author introduces a mysterious grand mom who is dissatisfied by the son’s choice of holiday to Florida instead of her preferred destination of Tennessee. On their way however, the grandmother disturbs the cat and it responds with a terrified cry. The cry makes Bailey who is driving to slid and land into a ditch on the sides of the road. The children who are also travelling in the same car get happy and to them it looks like an adventure. The elderly ...

These two masterpieces “the Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Conner are a real picture of the time period when it was written. A Good Man is Hard to Find, is an example of gothic literature which portrays the background of slavery and Civil War, whereas, the historical background of The Story of an Hour is based on women’s behavior and the female desire for independence which was more preferred than love and marriage. It was a time when a typical American woman of the nineteenth century would be a ...

Family relationships describe the interactions and associations of two or more individuals who share a common relation. A family presents to us challenges and happiness, stress management, behavior control and understanding well our emotions to communicate effectively with the most significant individuals in our lives (Salmon & Shackelford, 1). In our lives we are required to keep a good relationship with our family members and ensuring that the means of communication are always kept open. According to the story Everyday Use by A. Walker, the mother who is the narrator of the story talks about her two daughters’ divergent notions about ...

Flannery O'Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is an interesting and entertaining story. There are several interpretations as to what is the main theme to the story, some being more widely believed than others. It is generally accepted that the story explores the concept of good and evil, and of godliness. However, as well as this theme, there are smaller ones interwoven. Perhaps, as with many texts, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is written ambiguously so that the ultimate interpretation is left to each individual reader. The most frequently accepted theme in this ...

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 ...