Flannery O'Connor: A Good Man Is Hard To Find

[impalpable]

Fair enough! I'll have to flip through my Norton anthology of Short Stories tonight

 

[SeoulMan]

One more thing about the O'Connor story: I find it funny that the entire family survives that car wreck, with the car flipping over end-over-end, but then gets killed via gunshot by other people.

 

[Libra]

One other thing that I got the giggles with, when the grandmother remembered that the house they were looking for was in another state.

 

[Occlith]

I read this years ago and reread it now. A stunning story and well written.

Death is foreshadowed throughout. The mention of blue granite Stone Mountain reminds me of a tombstone monument, they drive past a graveyard and the town of Toombsboro (tomb again), and the hearselike automobile.

Ironically the grandmother is the one who brings about their deaths at the hands of the person she warned them about by causing them to take the side trip off the main road, bringing the cat, and recognizing the Misfit, though he probably would have killed them whether they recognized him or not, he was certainly going to take their car.

Thanks for mentioning the religious aspects in the story. It seems more obvious upon rereading.

I read other's comments about the grandma but she seems manipulative rather than selfish. The grandmother is at first trying to get out of being killed by attempting to flatter Misfit but is sincere when she says "you're one of my own children" and this is supported with the line, "her legs crossed under her like a child's and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky."
At the end she had returned to a childlike innocence and the believed in the grace of God.

 

[impalpable]

One other thing that I got the giggles with, when the grandmother remembered that the house they were looking for was in another state.

Yeah this cracked me up as well

 

[Libra]

I read this years ago and reread it now. A stunning story and well written.

Death is foreshadowed throughout. The mention of blue granite Stone Mountain reminds me of a tombstone monument, they drive past a graveyard and the town of Toombsboro (tomb again), and the hearselike automobile.

I hadn't thought of that until now.So true!

 

[SeoulMan]

I read this years ago and reread it now. A stunning story and well written.

Death is foreshadowed throughout. The mention of blue granite Stone Mountain reminds me of a tombstone monument, they drive past a graveyard and the town of Toombsboro (tomb again), and the hearselike automobile.

Ironically the grandmother is the one who brings about their deaths at the hands of the person she warned them about by causing them to take the side trip off the main road, bringing the cat, and recognizing the Misfit, though he probably would have killed them whether they recognized him or not, he was certainly going to take their car.

Thanks for mentioning the religious aspects in the story. It seems more obvious upon rereading.

I read other's comments about the grandma but she seems manipulative rather than selfish. The grandmother is at first trying to get out of being killed by attempting to flatter Misfit but is sincere when she says "you're one of my own children" and this is supported with the line, "her legs crossed under her like a child's and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky."
At the end she had returned to a childlike innocence and the believed in the grace of God.

Excellent observation, occlith!

It's good to see that you see more to this story than just a family who goes out on a road trip, gets into a car accident, and then gets wiped out by a serial killer.