O'Connor's Use of Setting to Predict the OutCome In “a Good Man Is Hard to Find”

In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, setting is used as a way to predict the tragic outcome of the story. The story’s end is unexpected when first read, but upon closer inspection one can see several clues and foreshadowing techniques O’Connor used to hint at what would eventually happen, specifically in her use of setting. The outcome of the story is hinted at through the description of the family’s scenic drive through Georgia, Red Sammy’s, and the deserted road they travel on.

The depiction of the family’s surroundings while driving through Georgia offers many hints to their tragic deaths. At first it seems the O’Connor is just providing vivid descriptions of the land, but continuing through the story one begins to realise a constant theme within the setting. While driving the family “passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it, like a small island” (660). What makes this passage so significant is the fact that there are six people traveling in the car, insinuating that the family will also end up in graves. As if this was not a big enough of a hint, later on in their travels the grandmother recalls an old plantation that she had visited in the neighbourhood of “Toombsboro” (662). Upon hearing this location, the word tomb comes to mind, symbolising death. It is also interesting that she thinks that the old plantation is in this specific town, since her wanting to go to the house is initially what causes the family’s untimely end.

The run down atmosphere at Red Sammy’s gives the reader an eerie and ominous feeling of what is to end up of the family. The first bit of description that is given about Red Sammy’s is that it is a tower. Towers are seen as being large and intimidating, and inside is described as being “a long dark room” (661). This gives the impression of Red Sammy’s as being dark, dingy, empty, and neglected. This impression is then reinforced by June Star, saying that she “wouldn’t live in a broken down place like this for a million bucks!” (661).Everything about this place is run down. Even Red Sammy’s car, which he is seen fixing upon their arrival, is broken. This provides a foreshadowing to the family’s car, which will also soon break down after their accident. The color red is also brought up, in Red Sammy’s name, bringing to mind what the colour red symbolizes, such things as fire, blood, death, and the devil. Even Red Sammy’s wife is described as being a “tall burnt-brown woman” (661), the word burnt bringing to mind fire and hell. The tower could be compared to “Dante’s Inferno” and it seems quite fitting that this is the last stop the family makes before their deaths.

The description of the deserted road the family travels on provides several clues to hint that this road is in fact the road to their deaths. It is very symbolic how the family turns off the smoothly paved, busy highway onto a deserted road. O’Connor provides a very vivid description of the road, saying that it “was hilly and there were sudden washes in it and sharp curves on dangerous embankments. All at once they would be on a hill, looking down over the blue tops of trees for miles around, then the next minute, they would be in a red depression with the dust-coated trees looking down on them” (663). This passage contains several key words and hints. The sharp curves and dangerous embankments give a sense of forewarning that they are traveling in a very