Grandmother Character in "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" takes its biblical cues from the book of Timothy. The paper shows how the grandmother, at the opening of the story, is portrayed as a woman trapped in a cycle of self-indulgence and vanity. The paper then discusses how the grandmother's recognition of The Misfit leads to a final and fatal recognition of her own superficiality of faith.

From the Paper:

"One of Flannery O'Connor's most frequently anthologized short stories, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is also one of her most powerful statements on the act of grace as an epiphanic statement of self-knowledge or self-awareness. Of particular significance to this reading of the story is the character of the Grandmother, whose recognition of The Misfit leads, indirectly at least, to the execution of her family but also to a final and fatal recognition of her own superficiality of faith in the moment before he turns the gun on her."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dowell, Bob. "The Moment of Grace in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor." College English27.3 (1965): 235-39.
• Fike, Matthew. "The Timothy allusion in 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'." Renascence 52.4(2000). Retrieved 4 April 2006, from Academic Search Premier:\<http://web104.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+21CF23FB%2D356C%2D46FB%2DB000%2DB9CDD8B10629%40sessionmgr4+dbs+aph+cp+1+E503&_us=sel+False+ss+SO+sl+0+hd+False+hs+True+cst+0%3B1%3B2+or+Date+fh+False+frn+1+sm+ES+mdbs+aph+dstb+ES+mh+1+ri+KAAAGECB00137952+67A3&_uso=hd+False+tg%5B2+%2D+tg%5B1+%2D+tg%5B0+%2D+st%5B2+%2D+st%5B1+%2Dgood++man+st%5B0+%2Dflannery++o%27connor+db%5B0+%2Daph+op%5B2+%2DAnd+op%5B1+%2DAnd+op%5B0+%2D+mdb%5B0+%2Dimh+6F93&cf=1&fn=1&rn=5>
• O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,Poetry, and Drama. 7th ed. Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 1999. 352-63.

More papers on Grandmother Character in "A Good Man is Hard to Find":

• Analytical Essay # 23049 : "The Misfit in "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
• Book Review # 49979 : "Characterization in "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
• Analytical Essay # 114886 : "Irony and Characterization in 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'"

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