Introduction
At first glimpse, Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find and William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily are two different stories. The main unifying feature of the narrations is the horrifying outcomes. However, there are inherent ideas that are similar in both stories. The common theme of two rather frightening and cruel stories is the theme of the imposition of life ideologies and the inability to accept the changing essence of the world.
Discussion
In the story A Good Man is Hard to Find, the grandmother is concerned about what people think of her and her family. Her values, faith in God, and attempts to deny the essence of the main antagonist and turn him into the right person become ridiculous and fragile (O’Connor). Considering himself a good person, the grandmother could not get out of the paradigm of perceiving himself as good. In other words, it became evil by rejecting everything not included in its paradigm of knowledge. In other words, she could never accept the world as it is. At the same time, in A Rose for Emily, the main character is also subject to the oppressive influence of her father. Her life position was formed only within the framework of his existence, as a result of which she could never accept the fact of his death (Faulkner). Emily could not even bury her father and continued to live in thoughts about him.
Conclusion
Thus, these stories, narrating two different stories in content, speak about the same thing. The characters in the stories were so focused on their paradigm of perception that all their values were meaningless in the face of real life. It is imperative to refrain from dwelling on your paradigm of perceiving the world, even if it was imposed by someone else. It is essential to adapt to the situation and try to accept the world and the people in it as they are.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. American Literature, 1930.
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Avon, 1953.