The question that hit the moment, I began to read the story was what effects does the Misfit have on the family? From the moment the Misfit was mentioned and the fact that Bailey payed no mind to the grandmother talking about him, really got me thinking what role will the Misfit play in the story.
“A good man is hard to find,” Red Sammy said. “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more” was a statement by the owner who was having a conversation with the grandmother about the Misfit who had just escaped from prison, gives a clue of what kind of influence the Misfit is going to have on this family. A family who seems to always go vacation to Florida coming to face with a man who had just escaped prison and was heading the same way. This man just buy hearing his name could be no good of a man just like the owner states. He would have to be one of the reason why in those days you would not leave your screen door unlocked anymore. Even in the mist of an accident where one would believe that someone would be helpful and kind to the person or people in trouble but what the family got was not what they expected. They had the worst of luck to face criminals who were not good men and help the family out of the accident. Showing that a good man really is hard to find.
When I heard the title of the story it reminded me of Bessie Smith’s song “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” Although the story and the song differ in their overall meaning. I believe there are similarities between these two pieces. One of them is that O’Connor and Smith believe that a good man is hard to find, no one is trustworthy anymore — just as Red Sammy and the Grandmother discussed. Smith does likewise, a excerpt from the song reads:
Lord, a good man is hard to find
You always get another kind
The Misfit and the grandmother may have different points of view. But who is the good character in this story? We don’t encounter a character whose values are meant to be praised. We don’t get much information about the mother or the baby to judge them as good or bad. The children seem to follow their grandmother’s example and so does her son. Building a chain that may explain the Misfit’s actions.
I agree with what he said there. The way Misfit acted toward the family does really say about the title of the story. back in the days people trusted everyone, there was no harm, no stealing, no killing. But now everyone is scared for the people like Misfit. Anyone can faces those kind of experience what the family have faced and they had to sacrifice their lives.
During the reading of a “Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, I also asked myself what role would The Misfit play in this story? As Jonabell did. While reading, I noticed a lot of foreshadowing. The way that O’Connor described the grandmother’s attire and if she was to die how she wanted the person who found her to view her. In the beginning of a story an audience is not already thinking of death, but O’Connor had us believing that somehow grandmother was going to die. We did not exactly know that they would bump into the Misfit along their way to a family vacation which made it even more interesting. I disagree that the O’Connor was trying to show us a good man is hard to find by the Misfit killing the family. The Misfit was already on the loose before he killed the family, so they had already known he was dangerous. I do not think they were trying to find the good in him. I feel as if the grandmother played a major role in why the family died, that is why she refused to tell them that the direction they had gone in was wrong. The house was not in Georgia, but back in Tennessee…. I feel as if this story had a cliffhanger.