Irony in a Good Man is Hard to Find Essay -- essays papers

Irony in a Good Man is Hard to Find Flannery O’ Connor’s story: â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is the tale of a vacation gone wrong. The tone of this story is set to be one irony. The story is filled with grotesque but meaningful irony. I this analysis I will guide you through the clues provided by the author, which in the end climax to the following lesson: â€Å"A Good Man† is not shown good by outward appearance, language, thinking, but by a life full of â€Å"good† actions. The story begins with the grandmother trying to persuade the family not to travel towards Florida but perhaps go to Tennessee instead. This is based on the grounds that â€Å"the Misfit†, a escaped criminal is on the loose somewhere in Florida. The Ironic part of this is that the grandmother is the only family member to conceive of bad things happening to the family. She bases this solely on the fact that they were traveling in the same direction as the Misfit. This negative thinking quite possibly could have led to the eventual rendezvous between the convict and the family. The following day the family heads off to Florida. Another major point of irony happens as the story revolves around the grandmothers traditional southern values of respect for other people; especially elders, respect for your home and country. At the same moment as the grandmother is lecturing her grand kids about respecting their home state she sees a young Negro boy and says: â€Å"Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!† (Pg 208). Her hypocrisy becomes evident as she wants the family to do what she says not what she does. It’s when the family gets ready to stop for barbecued sandwiches at Famous Sam’s the first of the Symbolism is the story starts to take shape. Before they reach ... ...nd shot Grandmother pleads and bargains with â€Å"The Misfit†. This plea-bargaining draws to a climax when the Grandmother says â€Å"Why, your one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!† â€Å"She reached out and touched him on the shoulder.†(218) This stirs something in â€Å"the misfit† and he snaps back and shoots her. The irony at the end of this story is very interesting. O’ Connor forces the reader to wonder which characters are â€Å"Good Men†, perhaps by the end of the story she is trying to convey two points: first, that a discerning â€Å"Good Man† can be very difficult, second that a manipulative, self centered, and hollow character: The Grandmother is a devastating way to be, both for a person individually and for everyone else around them. The reader is at least left wondering if some or all of the clues to irony I provided apply in some way to the outcome of this story. Irony in a Good Man is Hard to Find Essay -- essays papers Irony in a Good Man is Hard to Find Flannery O’ Connor’s story: â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is the tale of a vacation gone wrong. The tone of this story is set to be one irony. The story is filled with grotesque but meaningful irony. I this analysis I will guide you through the clues provided by the author, which in the end climax to the following lesson: â€Å"A Good Man† is not shown good by outward appearance, language, thinking, but by a life full of â€Å"good† actions. The story begins with the grandmother trying to persuade the family not to travel towards Florida but perhaps go to Tennessee instead. This is based on the grounds that â€Å"the Misfit†, a escaped criminal is on the loose somewhere in Florida. The Ironic part of this is that the grandmother is the only family member to conceive of bad things happening to the family. She bases this solely on the fact that they were traveling in the same direction as the Misfit. This negative thinking quite possibly could have led to the eventual rendezvous between the convict and the family. The following day the family heads off to Florida. Another major point of irony happens as the story revolves around the grandmothers traditional southern values of respect for other people; especially elders, respect for your home and country. At the same moment as the grandmother is lecturing her grand kids about respecting their home state she sees a young Negro boy and says: â€Å"Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!† (Pg 208). Her hypocrisy becomes evident as she wants the family to do what she says not what she does. It’s when the family gets ready to stop for barbecued sandwiches at Famous Sam’s the first of the Symbolism is the story starts to take shape. Before they reach ... ...nd shot Grandmother pleads and bargains with â€Å"The Misfit†. This plea-bargaining draws to a climax when the Grandmother says â€Å"Why, your one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!† â€Å"She reached out and touched him on the shoulder.†(218) This stirs something in â€Å"the misfit† and he snaps back and shoots her. The irony at the end of this story is very interesting. O’ Connor forces the reader to wonder which characters are â€Å"Good Men†, perhaps by the end of the story she is trying to convey two points: first, that a discerning â€Å"Good Man† can be very difficult, second that a manipulative, self centered, and hollow character: The Grandmother is a devastating way to be, both for a person individually and for everyone else around them. The reader is at least left wondering if some or all of the clues to irony I provided apply in some way to the outcome of this story.