A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’connor

Joanna Vourtsas

October 14, 2014

Comp. II

Essay 1

Grandmothers True Colors

        In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor the grandmother is the protagonist of the story. She has no given name throughout the short story other than “grandmother”. By that given name the reader believes that the protagonist will be somewhat like a normal grandmother heartwarming, sweet and caring. But this all changes once it is figured out that the grandmother is a manipulator, self-centered and is very selfish. Her behaviors and her decisions takes a big toll on the story that doesn’t really end well for her or her family.

        The first thing we find out about the grandmother is that she is a manipulator.  She says, “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did” (405) to try to scare her son to rethink his decision, just for her own benefits, because she wanted to go someplace else.  As a manipulator she tries to get her own way, and if she can’t, she finds some other way to get what she wants; For example she wants the cat with her on the trip but knows that her son won’t allow it, so she hides the cat in a basket.  Later on, she remembers an old plantation from when she was younger. She wants to go and visit this plantation but yet again she knows that her son won’t go for it, so she puts her manipulating skills into action. The grandmother says, “There was a secret panel in this house … and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found.” (409) this of course made the children want to go to the plantation and seek out the treasure. The children have the upper hand and change their fathers mind using annoyance. So the grandmother gets what she wants and her and her family are headed to the plantation. Or so they thought. 

The grandmother considers herself a lady. Being “a lady” makes her characterize herself as very important. She wears all these nice clothes to keep up her appearance, looking ladylike but also to look respectable. She says to the children, “In my time,” … “children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then.” (406) she says this because for her, being a lady is something in the past, so she is nostalgic of how things once were. It is said that the mother was wearing slacks and a green handkerchief, to show how things have changed. Even at Red Sammy’s, the grandmother is told that there are not any “good” people out there anymore. The grandmother criticize and makes fun of the mother’s face and on how the children behave. She judges everyone other than herself.  The grandmother considers herself still one of the “good” people and uses this against the misfit by saying, “You won’t shoot a lady, would you?”(412). Other than her appearance the grandmother seems to care about money and material comforts while saying to her granddaughter, “she would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he was a gentleman and ... a very wealthy man.” (407) stating that she would rather have these traits over love.