Introduction
In her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor raises numerous essential topics, and the inconsistency of how her characters identify themselves and who they are is one of the addressed themes. It might seem that the short story’s protagonist should have a strong self-identity with no severe inner or outer conflicts, while its antagonist should suffer from an identity crisis. However, in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor shows that The Misfit is more aware of the need to match his actions with his self-identity than the grandmother, but the views of both change, and they achieve salvation.
Character’s Self-Identification in O’Connor’s Short Story
Grandmother
To begin with, it is possible to describe the grandmother’s background to illustrate how she identifies herself and determine specific issues related to this identification. O’Connor portrays the protagonist as a proud southern lady who wants to preserve her heritage and demonstrate her social status. For instance, the grandmother wears elegant clothing during the car ride, hoping that “in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (O’Connor 3).
This description indicates that others’ opinions are essential for the grandmother, and she strives to let everyone know about her high status (Hani 347). However, not all her actions correspond with her being “a lady,” as she does not want to admit her mistakes and take responsibility even to her family (O’Connor 7). Therefore, her self and actual identities are sometimes in opposition.
Misfit
On the contrary, The Misfit does not define himself as a righteous human, and his crimes are consistent with his beliefs, philosophies, and self-identification. For example, The Misfit states: “Nome, I ain’t a good man /…/ but I ain’t the worst in the world neither” (O’Connor 10). He does not strive to see what he is not. Having a status among other fellow criminals, he takes responsibility for the situation in the forest, realizing that the witnesses must be killed (Hani 346; O’Connor 9). He is not a good person, so he commits crimes (O’Connor 10). However, he is not the worst among people, so he does not mistreat the family before murdering them, and even tells them about his parents nicely and respectfully.
Role of the Past for Characters’ Self-Identity
Further, it is noticeable that the grandmother identifies herself with the past and does not want to accept the changing circumstances. She is archaic in the things she enjoys and has a proclivity for wanting the same archaism to guide other people through their lives (Seeley 64). The Misfit does not hold to the past but also disagrees with the current social norms because they make him a criminal and punish him unjustly (Li 34; O’Connor 9).
Character Transformation
When meeting each other and talking in such devastating circumstances, both characters change their views and find salvation. Nevertheless, while the grandmother’s self-identity is ruined as she faces death, having her soul saved by God, The Misfit is almost entirely devoted to his ideas (Li 35). His change is more inner but can be spotted in the phrase: “It’s no real pleasure in life” (O’Connor 13). Crimes do not make him happy anymore, meaning his self-identity starts changing, and he is on his way to salvation.
Conclusion
To conclude, The Misfit and the grandmother are two opposing yet somewhat similar characters. While the former has a stronger self-identity and demonstrates more consistency between his ideas and actions, he gets on his way to religious salvation just as the grandmother does at the end of the short story. O’Connor shows that even the strongest identities might undergo changes, like The Misfit’s, and even the most seemingly good identities may prove weak and wrongful, as in the grandmother’s case.
Works Cited
Hani, Mohamad. “Analysis of Social Problems in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor.” English Community Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2019, pp. 342-349. Web.
Li, Xiao. “An Analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s Salvation Thoughts in A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Frontiers in Art Research, vol. 4, no. 12, 2022. Web.
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Gothic Digital Series, 1953.
Seeley, Mark. “The Misfit and the Real: A Rereading of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 7, no. 2, 2020, pp. 61-66. Web.