Southern Gothic Literature

Words: 419
Pages: 2

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is one example of Southern Gothic literature. O’Conner wrote this story in 1953 and uses this type of literature to convey the personalities of the unusual characters. This fictional story demonstrates how grace plays an important role when people are placed in life and death situations.
Flannery O’Conner uses the idea of Nostalgia to connect the diverse characters. The Grandmother, Red Sammy, and the Misfit reminisce on the past. Red Sammy refers to his trust issues with people, “These days you don’t know who to trust” (O’Conner 141).
O’Conner conveys how characterization can be the underlying concept of the story.
The Misfit is represented almost as a philosopher. He tells the grandmother about his anger and
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For instance, the family got into a terrible car wreck because of a startled cat. However, the innocent family ended up meeting the cold hard face of death.
In the end the Grandmother feels sorry for the Misfit and realizes he is human just like the rest of her children.
After the Misfit murdered all of the Grandmother’s family, he announced, “It’s no real pleasure in life” (O’Conner 153). This spoken fortune means that
Many of the ______ has deeper meanings to it.
The Misfit is taking the role of God when he chooses to make his judgement and kill the family. O’Conner shows the grandmother as a selfish cranky old woman. The story shows how In the beginning, the grandmother dressed up just in case they got into a car accident so she would be able to show she was a lady from her hat. It was ironic when they did manage to wreck their car, and her hat fell off her head. The story almost puts blame on the grandmother for the circumstance they tumbled into such as, if she didn’t make them go down the dirt road and iif she didn’t bring her cat. Furthermore, the misfit said, “but it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me” if she didn’t bring attention to him and point him out as a criminal, her family might still be