Temptation In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

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Cyril of Jerusalem once wrote, “We go to the father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” Reflecting on his philosophy, Flannery O’Connor wrote several short stories in which the dragon of temptation confronts the characters. The Grandmother, Mr. Shiftlet, and Mrs. McIntyre and Mr. Shortley all must face temptation to sin, and their responses seal their fates.
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the dragon of pride tempts the Grandmother. Because her generation demanded higher standards of etiquette, she views the people of later generations with contempt. However, when a man, the Misfit, threatens her with death, she humbles herself by accepting him as her equal. This grace in extremity, readers can assume, saves the Grandmother’s soul from damnation by the sin of pride. The Misfit muses that she would stronger in resisting temptation “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (O’Connor 23). At the end of her life, the Grandmother finally refuses the temptation of pride and, in turn, receives a life in paradise. …show more content…
Shiftlet in “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” embraces his. Being a man with few resources, Mr. Shiftlet takes the opportunity to work for a woman in order to steal her car. Unfortunately, he must also marry her dumb and deaf daughter to obtain his treasure. Finally, he chooses to leave the helpless girl in a strange place for his own convenience. As he drives away, a storm to “wash the slime from this earth” pours down upon him, indicating he holds the sin of greed in his heart (O’Connor 66). When Mr. Shiftlet embraces the temptation of greed, he condemns

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