Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is considered the writer’s most famous short story. It depicts the family that has decided to travel from Georgia to Florida. However, the characters fail to achieve this goal because they meet a criminal, The Misfit, who kills them. One should admit that this literary piece discloses some symbolic meaning behind these events. Thus, the essay will consider the short story from a Biblical perspective and demonstrate that O’Connor’s short story introduces Biblical allusions to critique people’s attitude to Christianity.
An essential Biblical allusion appears when the family is passing a large field with a few graves. The grandmother mentions that these graves belong to a plantation family, but when she is asked where this plantation is now, she answers: “Gone with the Wind” (O’Connor 5).
On the one hand, it denotes that the character is of secular beliefs since she discusses life and death issues carelessly. On the other hand, it is an allusion to the Bible because this claim supports the idea of people’s temporary existence (The Bible, Psalms 103.15-17). The grandmother’s secular nature disappears when the family meets The Misfit. She tries to persuade the criminal not to kill them by appealing to Jesus. However, the murderer admits that Jesus is not about sentimental morality. The Misfit states that if Jesus actually resurrected, people should “throw everything away and follow him” (O’Connor 15). Thus, the author tries to demonstrate that religion is not only about morality and justice.
In conclusion, O’Connor’s story can be analyzed from a Biblical perspective to identify what the author means. The analysis above reveals that allusion to the Bible is used to demonstrate that little time is needed for a person to forget their secular nature and start expressing religious opinions. Thus, O’Connor explains that there is a difference between saying the right words and following a Biblical lifestyle that implies accepting the transience of being.
Works Cited
The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories. Mariner Books, 1977.