A Good Man is Hard to Find, written by Flannery O’Connor decades ago, is among the Gothic short stories with a unique story line and other specific literary elements. For example, the first literary element, the setting, emphasizes the serene and simple beginning of the story. A family, about which everything was usual, was traveling to the south when “they stopped at The Tower for barbecued sandwiches” (O’Connor 4). The author accentuates an ordinary road trip of a married couple with children and the grandmother, not letting the reader anticipate anything negative from the start.
Another literary element, the main characters, shows the contrast between the protagonist group. For instance, on the one side, there was a family, including the grandmother, Bailey, the Mother, “a stocky child with glasses,” John Wesley, “the little girl,” June Star, and a baby (O’Connor 2). However, on the other side, there were criminals, such as the Misfit, Bobby Lee, and Hiram. By using such distinct groups of heroes, the author wishes to show the good and bad sides of humanity and how sometimes those who pretend to be good individuals are, in reality, evil.
Finally, the narration of the story is based on the third-person approach, illustrating the events from the grandmother’s perspective. From the first line, the reader learns about the grandmother since it is mentioned that “the grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida” (O’Connor 1). In this sense, the intention of the author is to show the development of the story and why this narration was based on the grandmother’s point of view, showing the true personality of this character. The author wants to show the real face of the character and her treatment of other characters.
Work Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find, and Other Stories. United Kingdom, Harcourt Brace, 1992.