Abstract This essay, written in the first person, is about the writer's maturing attitudes and outlook on life. It reflects how he took so much for granted until he grew up and realized that he should have tried to learn more from his grandmother.
From the Paper "As a boy, we sometimes let our immediate desires overshadow the more important work that we are here to accomplish. Sometimes we lose track of the things that are most important in life. We sometimes hurt others or ourselves on the path to discovering those things, which are truly most important. The transition from childhood to adulthood always involves encountering old feelings along the road. One of the deepest feelings that we encounter is that of love and relationships. "
Abstract This paper explains that, for many generations, African-American grandmothers not only have contributed economically to the family but have been the social fixture through which her family and community maintain their cohesiveness. The author relates that, in recent years, a growing number of African-American grandmothers have become "new parents again" by taking on the sole parenting responsibility for their grandchildren. The paper explores the reasons behind this trend, the historic role of the African-American grandmothers and some of the physical, mental and emotional effects of this next generation parenting role.
From the Paper "However, African-American grandmothers as caregivers are no new phenomenon. Jiminez (2002) did a study in which she examined primary sources such as the testimonies of elderly African-American women who had been slaves. She used their stories, oral histories, biographies, and autobiographies as well as manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1940. She discovered certain commonalties between the historical development of African-American grandmothers during slavery and their experience from the second half of the 19th century until today."
Tags: icon, oral histories, slavery, primary caregivers, health problems
Abstract The paper analyzes how the grandmother in both stories "Everything that Rises Must Converge" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" represents the aged perspective of racism and bigotry. The paper also illustrates how the next generation recognized the true bigotry of the grandmothers' personalities, hidden behind the facade of dignity. The paper discusses, however, how the next generation did not combat the racism whole-heartedly, and then shows how this tolerance ultimately leads to destruction within both stories.
From the Paper "The main driving force behind the morals of each story is the character of the elderly woman, mother and grandmother, unnamed in both short stories. In "Everything that Rises Must Converge", the elder mother is a poor woman of an aged American family. At first, her character seems to be one of positivity, through her assertion "If you know who you are, you can go most anywhere." This follows by her recounting of her past, her grandfather having been a plantation owner with many slaves, then goes on to reveal her true nature. She hops on a bus with her son, and upon assessing the situation, realizing there are only white individuals on the bus, she states loud enough for the others to hear, "I see we have the bus to ourselves." Eliciting a response from a fellow passenger in agreement, "...thick as fleas - up front and all through.", indicative of the times."
A study of the Latin America book by Rita Arditti, "Searching for Life: The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and the Disappeared Children of Argentina."
Abstract This paper examines the fascist history of Latin American countries during the 1970s and 80s. It investigates the telling non-fiction book by Rita Arditti, "Searching for Life: The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and the Disappeared Children of Argentina," which follows the plight of the families of missing persons during the dictator's rule. It also describes the courageous political career of the author Arditti.
From the Paper "If we thought that dictatorship and related horrifying stories were a thing of the distant past and that something of that sort was impossible in the 20th century, we must brace ourselves for the shocking truth. The decades of 1970s and 80s weren?t exactly that distant a past but it was precisely this time when all our fears regarding dictatorship and fascist governments came alive in one part of Latin America. Argentina was that unfortunate miserable part of the world where fascist regime during 1970s and 80s kidnapped, tortured and killed tens of thousands of so-called "subversives"."
Abstract This freshman paper highlights the reasons for Maya Angelou's writing the famous book: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" followed by a brief overview of the noteworthy events in the book. The paper supports reasons for the grandmother's subtle resistance as a cage for Maya.
Abstract This paper explains that Grandmother in Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" seems like the typical harmless mother/ mother-in-law/grandmother who believes she is always right and everybody else is wrong, no matter what the issue is. The author points out that O' Connor displays the image that the grandmother considers herself to be "godlike" or "above all" but she is the complete opposite. The paper states that the grandmother is very self-centered and vain and only cares about herself and the way people perceive her. The author concludes that, finally, the grandmother goes through an epiphany at the end of the story when she realizes she cannot talk her way out of the predicament in which she finds herself.
From the Paper "The grandmother is also very self-centered and vain. She only cares about herself and the way people perceive her. For instance for the car ride, everyone wore comfortable casual clothes while the grandmother dressed in her Sunday best; that consisted of a navy blue dress with her collars trimmed in white lace and a huge hat filled with violets topped off with a pair of white cotton gloves. In case of an accident, she wanted to make sure that she would be quickly identified as a lady if was sprawled out on the highway."
Tags: selfishness, southern, epiphany, manipulative, christian
Abstract This paper argues against the common assertion that the grandmother in the story is an agent of grace. An alternative analysis is offered for those who do not see the story as a parable of grace. The grace is a guise, a rationale that is not brought off. O'Connor focuses her story on what is sinister in The Misfit and satirical in the grandmother and her family. She depicts pure evil in The Misfit as he obliterates the whining grandmother and her clan. The naive and deluded Grandmother is brought low by a violent encounter that shakes her out of her petty superiority and pretentious dress. Ultimately, she is forced to realize her vulnerability and ridiculous condition.
From the Paper "Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," provokes the reader to consider the issue of grace and righteousness. The main character in the story, the Grandmother, believes that in her day "people did right" and certainly in her mind, she was the most righteous of all. In analyzing the actions of the Grandmother, the reader gains insight about her attitudes and values. One could interpret, as O'Connor herself does, that the Grandmother's final act leads her to an awareness of her feigned righteousness and ushers her into a true state of grace. However, rather than seeing the grandmother's final gesture as an embodiment of spirituality, one could assert her final act as mundane, selfish, and in every sense unredeeming."
Abstract The paper discusses family gatherings, identity and how the author's family and childhood affected her writing style. The grandmother, an older and wiser person, was Cofer's primary influence and she is discussed throughout most of the paper. The paper presents comparisons of the grandmother.
From the Paper "Family gatherings have always been an important factor among families, especially my family. Everyone would enjoy each others company, the men in one room and the women in the other, watching the football game or telling stories. I remember hearing laughter and from the men, groans when their favorite teams weren't performing up to par. I also remember listening to the women in my family tell stories of when they were younger and remenise on the "good 'ole days". The family in "Casa: A Partial Rememberance of Puerto Rican Childhood", by Judith Ortiz Cofer, is much like mine. All of the women sit in a room and discuss life in general. These moments helped develop me into a mature woman and identify myself as they also did for Cofer. I was able to become a more self-aware person and see myself not only through those around me, but especially through my own eyes, just the same as the chats did for Cofer. Because of the gatherings, she was able to develop her love for writing stories and mature as a woman."
Abstract This paper examines the story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O?Connor, which is set in the South and contains some of the typical Southern attitudes that were prevalent in the area. It demonstrates how these attitudes were deeply rooted through the comments made by the character Grandmother. It looks at how the reality of the character of the Misfit demonstrates the stereotypes about social class and upbringing by contrasting the reality of the character with Grandmother's stereotypes. It shows how the misfit is a significant character in illustrating the prevalence of common misconception in the Southern United States.
From the Paper "The southern stereotypes are recited again and again by Grandmother. Grandmother judges the man by his looks and the clothes he wears, she totally ignores the explanation by the Misfit about stealing them. For Grandmother, it is all about how he looks on the outside now.
"Listen," the grandmother almost screamed, "I know you're a good man. You don't look a bit like you have com- mon blood. I know you must come from nice people? {O"Connor, p. 147). She repeats it again on the same page, "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 " {O"Connor, p. 147)"
Abstract This paper explains that, although these religious undertones may not be seen during the first reading, Flannery O?Connor writes stories that reflect her strong Roman Catholic faith. The author points out that in her encounter with The Misfit, the Grandmother increasingly calls on her religion to restore The Misfit's faith, thus hoping to save her own life. The paper relates that, after being shot, the Grandmother and God finally have come to peace; her legs are crossed in a position similar to that of Jesus on the cross upon which he is said to have been crucified.
From the Paper "After all of the other attempts to get through to The Misfit, the Grandmother starts to see The Misfit from a Jesus-like perception. It is at that same moment, while looking into The Misfit's face, that the grandmother's head clears and states to him, "Why you"re one of my babies?. The church teaches us that we are all God's children no matter what we do or say. It is from these teachings that The Grandmother comes to realize this life altering realization. Simultaneously, the grandmother "recognizes briefly and dimly that she and The Misfit are bound together by the mystery of life and death" which is something up until now "she has able to ignore". The Misfit and grandmother are spiritually connected to each other by the blood and body of Christ that are said to be given in order to free one of sin. When the grandmother reaches out to touch The Misfit and become one with him that he "spring back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest". ?
Abstract This paper explains that, when the author was a child, her grandmother's death had a huge impact on her life; however, as she grew older, she found out that her grandmother's death wasn't a huge impact at all. The author points out that when her grandma was alive was when her impact began because she had taught the author the importance of the church, the teachings of Jesus Christ and helped her become a devout follower of Christianity. The paper relates that the author's grandma had taught her many things, but the most important responsibility she taught the author was that the world was basically a temporary place.
From the Paper "If grandma were still alive, she would say that there would be no greater man than Jesus, and that he will come again not to teach but to save man who had faith and take them into the Kingdom of God. "That day is called Judgment Day," she said in a loud and thunderous voice that frightened me half to death. "That is why you should follow Christ and have faith in him." To this day I know no greater man than Jesus. The last knowledge she taught me was how to be a good follower of Christianity, as if I were a true patriot for my country. One day she told me, "Never be a hypocrite! A hypocrite is a person who feigns to be what he is not!""
Abstract This paper examines Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and focuses on how the grandmother becomes an agent of God's grace once she discovers reality within herself. It discusses why O'Connor chooses the grandmother as the protagonist and also exploits the use of motifs and irony in the story.
From the Paper "In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," O'Connor shows us how the grandmother is out of touch with reality by displaying irony. For example, the grandmother's perception of the weather is ironic. When the Misfit tells the grandmother about the cloudless, sunless sky, she responds, "It's a beautiful day" (O'Connor 364). Her statements prove that she is in denial. Also, the grandmother calls the Misfit a "good man" although she pronounces him a criminal in the beginning of the story. In today's society, does a "good man" represent a criminal? O'Connor wants us to acknowledge that the grandmother's lack of judgment precludes her from grasping reality. Furthermore, the grandmother desperately offers the Misfit money in sake of her life despite her greediness. "
Abstract 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."
Abstract In this essay the author discusses the beliefs of the major character in the story, the Grandmother and analyzes how her beliefs affect the direction and outcome of the story. In doing so, the character and beliefs of the other major character in the story, the "Misfit", is also analyzed. The paper shows how the story has an underlying religious theme juxtaposed with the issue of changing values in the modern society.
From the Paper "The character of the Grandmother is a complex mixture of the overtly religious as well as someone who holds the older "Southern" values dear to her heart. However, she is anything but a noble soul and neither is her character particularly endearing as is reflected in the attitude of the family members towards her."
Abstract The paper studies the way Janie's grandmother influences her life in Zora Neale's ?Their Eyes Were Watching God,? and the effect of the unnamed boy's grandfather's guardianship in Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal". The effects of guardianship on the protagonists' outlooks in the two novels are compared. The paper looks at the settings of the novels and uses quotes from the books to illustrate the ways in which the protagonists were influenced by their guardians. The paper concludes by contrasting the differences in the guardianship experiences of Janie and the unnamed boy, focusing on the way that each character handles the influences of the guardian in later life.
From the Paper "The role a guardian can play, especially in the early stages of a child's upbringing usually carries on through their later stages of life. The influence exerted by the mentor is seen in the characters, Janie from, ?Their Eyes Were Watching God,? by Zora Neale Hurston and in an unnamed high school boy from, ?Battle Royal,? by Ralph Ellison. Zora Neale Hurston was "born on 7 January in Eatonville, Florida, to John Hurston and Lucy Ann Potts Hurston" she was the fifth of eight children.? (Harris, 51). Eatonville is also the town that Hurston's character, Janie, spends most of her life in. Hurston's writing style incorporates ??a sense of black people as complete, complex, undiminished human beings, a sense that is lacking in so much black writing and literature.?? (Kawash, 172). This may explain why Hurston chose to focus on Janie and her experiences and not on the overall picture of racism that was still rampant during the early 20th century. Janie's guardian was her grandmother while the boy's was his grandfather and both of these figures were influenced early in their lives. Similarly, Janie and the boy were equally unaware of having been affected until later in their lives. However, while Janie resents the influence once she acknowledges this as the source of her failures in life, the boy is merely puzzled over his grandfather. Ironically although both these guardians had good intentions, their influence inexorably causes failures in Janie's and the boy's life. Since their guardians influenced both Janie and the boy, the ways in which these influences affected them will be discussed"
