Flannery O’Connor’s tales may be disturbing and unsettling despite their seeming lightheartedness and ease. O’Connor’s writings have a certain allure because of their bizarre plots, blood and violence, dismal religion, stereotypical southern location, and bands of strange, demonic characters. Her best-known work is the short book “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” which veers between the ludicrous and the graceful with unforeseen results.
O’Connor concludes that the family’s tragedy caused by “the Misfit” is a narrative about original sin and salvation. It is consistent with the view held by most critics of literature who feel that this Catholic writer only has one story to tell (Zhao 40). Two critics, Jefferson Harmsworth and Claude Richard believe that the grandmother is in heaven due to “the Misfit” (Zhao 40). Richard argues that the grandmother receives a “moment of grace” from God (Zhao 40). While it is not the only topic in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” redemption is certainly one of the most prominent. Reviewer Susan Paulson previously said that if one reads O’Connor’s works carefully, one would see the virtues of Catholicism, the regularity of contemporary philosophy, and the evolution of the human psyche (Zhao 40). Susan is unwavering in her conviction that O’Connor’s writings include a philosophical undercurrent (Zhao 40). The protagonists, storyline and certain incomprehensible elements or pictures in O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” all point to the novel’s extension and exploitation of this philosophical theme-absurdity (Zhao 40). Despite Grandma’s best efforts, the randomness and chance of the world frequently go against her plans. The family’s tragedy is a direct consequence of her insistence on going to Tennessee to avoid The Misfit and to educate the children and of her choice to take the cat along for the ride despite her fears that the animal would accidentally suffocate itself.
O’Connor’s use of disruption and distortion to reconfigure ethical-religious forms of being in the world is illuminated by the Levinasian themes of alterity, anarchy, and the absolute. Her writing style steers clear of too simplistic morality tales and dull dramatic escapism (Wood 33). In addition, the suggested reading is given a place to ponder ethical questions because of her tales’ power and uniqueness. Nevertheless, despite the cozy at-home-ness due to the Same’s economy, such introspection reveals a chasm in front of the text, where it becomes almost palpable that real life is empty (Wood 33). This narrative begins with Ruby Turpin entering a doctor’s office waiting area. Through O’Connor’s portrayal of the incident, one can immediately foresee Mrs. Turpin’s manner of relating to Others. O’Connor described as she surveyed the sitting arrangement, her small, dark-colored eyes scanned all the patients (Wood 33). Mrs. Turpin, acting as a kind of transcendental ego, constantly sorts the people sitting in the waiting room, “a microcosm of the South”, into her predetermined social classes (Wood 33). In this void, which is accentuated by the mediocre, perceived goods of classism, racism, narcissism, and mistaken optimism, there exists the potential of ethical transcendence (Wood 33). However, only for a fleeting instant, it came for the grandmother and Mrs. Turpin when it comes to ontology.
To summarize, O’Connnor’s narrative incorporates absurdist and Levinasian claims about the Other. This sets up a potentially harsh and ironic circumstance. This short tale is emblematic of O’Connor’s ability to combine humor, kindness, dullness, and brutality into a picture of a world that most readers would invariably identify as partially their own, despite its flaws. O’Connor portrays the world as a place where good and evil are at odds with one another, and her characters often find out the hard way that the forces of darkness are very real.
Works Cited
O’Connor, Flannery. The Complete Stories. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971.
Wood, Dan. “Misfits, Anarchy, and the Absolute: Interpreting O’Connor through Levinasian Themes.” Literature and Theology 29.1 (2015): 33-46.
Zhao, Yang. “The Absurd Theme in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.” 3rd International Conference on Economy, Management and Education Technology, Francis Academic Press, (2017): 40-42.