Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A Good Man is Hard to Find

In this gothic story by Flannery O'Connor, one question that I had was "what was going to become, of the Misfit"?. After the Misfit had committed the atrocities against the family, one must wonder if the Misfit was ever going to be captured or not.
While reading this story, the best summary that came to mind, was to describe it as being about an family that lives in Atlanta, Georgia. An woman lives with her son, his wife, and children. At the beginning of the story, the family is venturing from their home in Georgia to the state of Florida. The grandmother protests the trip, and would rather her family go to Tennesse instead. She insists that the Misfit has escaped from the prison systems and might possibly be hiding out in the state of Florida. However, her family tells her that she should just stay home instead. However, the grandmother still goes along with the rest of her family to Florida.
 One connection that I made to this story, was that it made me think of another class reading. The reading was "The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdich. Even though Erdich bases her story on an reservation in the midwest and O'Connot bases her story in the rural south, they still have similiarities of not knowing exactly how the stories are going to end. However, both stories end in tragedy.
When it comes to outside class readings, the story reminded me of William Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily". This story also was based in the south. I have read William Faulkner's stories in prior English courses. Even though these stories were based in different time periods, they still had the same elements of gothic horror and suspense. That is why both O'Connor and Faulkner had been labeled as being Gothic Literature Writers.
Lastly, I found this to be an very suspenseful and dark story. Throughout the story, the reader never truly knew how the story was going to end. From the time that the family left traveling in the car, to when they encountered the "Misfit", the reader did not know what exactly was going to happen to the family. I find this to be an very interesting story. I had never heard of Flannery O'Connor before, but I found her to be an very talented writer. I have always been interested in reading gothic literature, so I was very much enthralled in this story.

1 comment:

  1. I would like to make several comments about this story. One comment, is that the grandchildren are not in any ways close to the grandmother, in the story. Even though this story is based in the south, the children do not seem to have an sense of connection to her. Also, this story can be compared to the British comedy show "Keeping Up Appearances". The grandmother in the story, can be compared to Hycinth Bucket. Also, one must wonder if the Misfit was really guilty of commiting all of the crimes, or if he had been falsely charged, due to the fact that he was unable to read or write. So he had to go along with the confession, that had been written for him. Also, even though the grandmother keeps up an religous air to her, it is really the Misfit that clears her conscience before she dies. Lasly, it is important to know, that the writer of this story had been an follower of the Catholic faith. SO as one reads this story, they can recognize the elements of the Catholic faith interwoven in the story.

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