ipl-logo

Manipulation In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

786 Words4 Pages

The Grandmother is a well-dressed and a proper southern lady. She is also the center of action in the short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". The grandmother seems very suspicious at first, and thinks her son Bailey will be forever small and has to abide by her rules. In her eyes she is never been wrong but knows it all. When we become up-close and personal with the grandmother we see that she's this bad person, which she appears to be old-fashioned, manipulative, and self-serving as a whole. The grandmother is an elderly southern old-fashioned woman stuck in her old ways. Flannery O'Connor states, "Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!" She said and pointed to a negro child standing in the door of the shack. "Wouldn't that make a picture, …show more content…

To give one example of manipulation, Flannery O'Connor, Georgia State author of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", writes that "You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?"(421). The grandmother is trying to make the misfit vulnerable, even though he has already killed everyone but her. She's begging the misfit for her life. Every one of those people would still be alive if it was not for the grandmother. She did not have much hope left anyways for her life because she annoyed the misfit with her ugly and selfish ways. In another quote the grandmother implies that the misfit is a good man by stating, "Yes it's a beautiful day," said the grandmother. "Listen, " she said, "You shouldn't call yourself the misfit because I know you're a good man at heart. I can just look at you and tell" (421). The grandmother doesn't know the misfit from Adam, yet she already gave him a persona that he has to match. Besides the grandmother has already called Red Sammy a good man, and by now it is already apparent that its feigned. She is only trying to convince the misfit that he is a good man because she wants to be freed, and her life is in shambles. Also, the grandmother has already gone back on her word multiple of times, calling the misfit a big, bad, and scary man. Now all of the sudden he is a good man. Therefore, the grandmother still has not changed a

Show More
Related

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Grandmother Analysis

    909 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor begins with the introduction of the grandmother. It can quickly be noted that this woman holds herself in high regard. Grandmother views herself as a prim and proper lady. However, she does not possess the qualities of a lady. She is dishonest, selfish, and hypocritical.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Grandmother In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    751 Words  | 4 Pages

    Looking into the story “A Good Man is Hard To Find”, you can determine that this story has a rather dark and thrilling story plot. Even more so when you start to dig deeper into learning more information about a character and the way they function and present themselves in a story. All the characters in this story have great information to offer, but the most prominent character is the grandmother who constantly is causing trouble, and uncertainty. The grandmother, of all characters, has the most promising personality to look deeper into. By looking deeper into the meaning of a character, we can infer good information about the story, and how a characters personality can affect the plot.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Irony Analysis

    490 Words  | 2 Pages

    Red Sammy was not a good man here because he was gullible, but the Grandma thought otherwise. Also, the idea of the “Good Man” gets wrongly used again when the Grandma runs into the Misfit. The Misfit is about to kill the Grandma when she calls him “good” and says that a “Good Man” would not shoot a lady. She then gets shot in the chest three times by a man she called “good” because she thought he aligned with her moral code.

    Read More

  • Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    970 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sammy is relating a good man to someone who is trustable, yet "The Misfit" shows no signs of distrust. He honors his own word and does not mislead the family. It may not be a conventional form of trust, but what he says and does is still trustworthy. The third quote seeping with irony comes from the grandmother. Sammy let two rough looking men charge their gas without pay, and he reflects back on it pondering why he let them, as grandmother exclaims, "Because you're a good man" (("A Good Man Is Hard to Find" O'Connor)!

    Read More

  • Similarities Between A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

    1041 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the stories “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, and “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor, both of the main characters go face to face with evil. There are many similarities and differences though the two short stories. Both stories use the effects of epiphany to generate a newfound description, as well as different types of dialect and characterization to describe each of the characters. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, epiphany is displayed as the Grandmother tries to convince the Misfit to let her go.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    904 Words  | 4 Pages

    (O’Connor 417). In society, The Misfit is considered a criminal and a deviant, while the Grandmother would be perceived as an innocent, old woman. When looking at both of the characters actions one might say that The Misfit is more morally wrong than the Grandmother because he kills her in the end, however, the Grandmother is consistently manipulative and self-serving to the point of indirectly killing her family.

    Read More

  • The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall Character Development

    554 Words  | 3 Pages

    Character Development in “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” In this short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter, the story takes place in Granny Weatherall’s bedroom. Granny is sick in bed being visited by her children, Cornelia, Jimmy, and Lydia. In this story, the author develops Granny’s character through her hard life, her marriage and family, and the jilting.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    605 Words  | 3 Pages

    This conversation in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” between The Misfit, an infamous criminal in Georgia, and his accomplice Bobby Lee reveals the senseless views of not only The Misfit, but also the grandmother he just murdered. Both characters appear to be different, yet they feel authorized at some point in the story to assert their irrational judgments. Towards the end of her life the grandmother finally shows empathy depicting her as the lesser of two evils. While The Misfit acknowledges the grandmother’s moment of goodness, his cynical thinking ultimately leads him to seemingly rationalize his murders when he implies that his barbaric actions are meaningless.

    Read More

  • Summary Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    696 Words  | 3 Pages

    The grandmother spends all of her last moments attempting to convince a man who is already decided in his actions. She tells him he is a good man multiple times (pg 7, 8, 10) and believes that God is on her side which will bring the Misfit to her senses. Although the Misfit has thought about God before, the conversation about Jesus has no impact on him. He claims he has always been alright on his own and the grandmother remains powerless but continues to plead with the Misfit. As one can assume by the chaotic ending, the grandmother’s undying attempts were unsuccessful as the Misfit did not agree nor sympathize with her or her

    Read More

  • Similarities Between A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

    1074 Words  | 5 Pages

    In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother is held at gunpoint. She pleads relentlessly, trying to persuade the Misfit to let her live. In an essay by Anna Woodiwiss, she explains that “The grandmother's acceptance of someone so different from her is wrenched out of her by extraordinary circumstances, and she is only partly conscious or rational as she expresses it.” The grandmother was senile and was devoted to her traditional views, which would make her less accepting of the thoughts and ideas of others. The Misfit was the exception to her personality and her willingness to show contempt by saying he is one of her own children.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Rhetorical Analysis

    961 Words  | 4 Pages

    The narrator expresses how the grandmother thinks The Misfit will recognize and respect her moral code furthermore respecting her life. She is a women that judges people all throughout the story based on their physical appearance and outward behavior. Even when she meets The Misfit

    Read More

  • Good Men Are Hard To Find Literary Analysis

    1100 Words  | 5 Pages

    She was considered a “harmless busybody, utterly self-absorbed, but also amusing”. She was raised in a later time period and had a few character flaws due to her class and time, racism being one of them. Most of GMHTF is just building up to the main part of the story, which is the final moment between the grandmother and The Misfit. Throughout most of the story, the grandmother was very self absorbed, thinking of no one except herself. However, once her family was killed and she was the only one left, she realized her faults in herself and her life as the gun was pointed towards her.

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    O’Connor implements details to convey that the Misfit was positively affected by the Grandmother. Firstly, the Misfit revaluates the meaning of his life. Before

    Read More

  • Gary Soto Behind Grandma's House Analysis

    1042 Words  | 5 Pages

    The speaker’s grandmother is originally presented in a way that causes the ending to be a surprise, saying, “Her apron flapping in a breeze, her hair mussed, and said, ‘Let me help you’” (21-22). The imagery of the apron blowing in the wind characterizes her as calm, and when she offers to help her grandson, she seems to be caring and helpful. Once she punches the speaker, this description of her changes entirely from one of serenity and care to a sarcastic description with much more meaning than before. The fact that the grandmother handles her grandson’s behavior in this witty, decisive way raises the possibility that this behavior is very common and she has grown accustomed to handling it in a way that she deems to be effective; however, it is clearly an ineffective method, evidenced by the continued behavior that causes her to punish the speaker in this manner in the first place.

    Read More

  • Othello Character Manipulation Essay

    1984 Words  | 8 Pages

    Manipulation is the act of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way. Mia, Iago and Amy are three individuals who manipulate many people in their lives and will do anything they can in order to reach their end goal. Throughout all three works, each character individually has reasons for manipulating which are are very clearly and straight forward. Each character shows a great amount of evidence of manipulation, they show their true colours and what they want to be portrayed as. Despite the reason and evidence, everything has an outcome and so does each character’s manipulation.

    Read More

More about Manipulation In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Open Document