Religion and Hypocrisy
in
A Good Man is Hard to Find
James Nacua
ENG 102
11/29/08
There are many short stories out there that talk about one recurring theme or
motif. Could be either a worn out cage to represent ones age or a stone maybe used for a
ritual. Whatever is the case, only one theme appears but, in “A Good Man is Hard to
Find” we are faced with two themes. Hypocrisy and religion is in constant display in this
short story written by Flannery O’Conner. How can both themes be fused into one in
order to create a great short story? Luckily, O’Conner placed in two wonderful
characters, the grandmother and the Misfit to drive both her themes into action.
The grandmother is a true testament of what a hypocrite is meant to be. Not
only do we see her manipulate her own grandchildren to change the course of the road
trip but she is responsible for the demise of her own family. O’Conner portrays the
grandmother as a southerner who’s still too attached to southern way of living and
uncomfortable with how the country is becoming, stating “in my time…, children were
more respectful of their native states and their parents” (650). You’d think that with her
little speech you will start to appreciate the grandmother agreeing with her “Yes!! Need
more respect!!”, but things start to go downhill from there. Manipulation arises from the
grandmother to fulfill her own selfish needs “there was a secret panel in this house,” she
said craftily, not telling the truth. Of course it does not end there, during the pleading of
not getting killed by the hands of the Misfit near the end of the story we come across the
grandmother’s biggest showing of hypocrisy. While she is desperately telling the Misfit
that he has “good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady...Pray! Jesus, you ought not to
shoot a lady” (658). With this act you would feel confused about the grandmother, for
she uses manipulation to get what she wants while having the faith and decency to
believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will protect her meanwhile her grandchildren lay dead
in the forest. She is of all things ironic “In short, the grandmother is an ironic
embodiment of the South of the good old days, when people were God-fearing, genteel,
courteous, hospitable, charitable, and honest--in a word, good” as told by Stanley Renner.
Let’s not forget also the grandmother mumbles “Maybe he didn’t raise the dead” (659)
affirming with the Misfit that Jesus must not have existed and all that religious magic was
all just an illusion. Agreeing with the Misfit, while facing certain death she crumbles her
belief and sides with the atheistic Misfit perhaps to survive or finally admitting her
hypocrite front. Some will describe the grandmother as a hypocrite, manipulative or even
despicable but Stephen C. Bandy can better describe her as a character with “wicked
irony”.
We have the Misfit, the antagonist, atheist and unique character. Not only is he a
killer going from one territory to another killing strangers but he is ironically well
brought up. As he has stated:
“I was a gospel singer, I been most everything. Been in the arm service, both land and
sea, at home and abroad, been twict married, been an undertaker, been with the railroads,
plowed Mother Earth, been in a tornado, seen a man burn alive oncet” (657).
It has now come to our attention that the Misfit has experienced the ups and downs of
life. Already understanding the Christian faith by being a gospel singer but later facing
the harsh and cruel reality of combat and death, this will instill ones mind does God
really exist? Why has the Misfit become the way he is? Going through all of what the
Misfit had said can really change a man. Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton states “O'Connor
uses the Misfit's deeply held and passionate convictions as a foil”. One particular scene
that portrays the religious theme is when the Misfit talks to the grandmother already
waiting death she says
“If you would pray” the old lady said,” jesus would help you”
“that’s right,” the Misfit said.
“Well then, why don’t you pray?” she asked trembling with delight
“I don’t want no hep I’m doing all right by myself” (658).
An ideal conversation between a man who believes in nothing anymore whereas to a
woman who needs help from a divine being to get her out of predicament. They are two
minds in two different wavelengths, Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton can better explain this as
“the Misfit cannot place his faith is something he
cannot be rationally certain of, while the Grandmother
continues to cling to a faith without an intellectual
foundation or certainty of belief. The Misfit is
incapable of wrapping himself around the paradox”
Not only are we to understand both the grandmother and the Misfit but we are
also to see the significance of the sky and the snake in a religious way. Throughout the
story the sky be blue and filled clouds or could be empty of clouds. The family would
play what shape the clouds are formed as while they were held captive the sky was clear
of clouds when she got shot three times “her face smiling up at the cloudless sky” (639).
This is to represent maybe the presence of God through out the story. During their trip
God was there, but during the act of said killing the sky was clear leaving the family to
their deaths. We are also shown the image of the snake which takes the form of the
grandmother’s hand when she says “Why you are one of my babies” (659). The snake of
course represents evil based on the book of Genesis, God punishes the serpent “ upon
your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life;" after the serpent
manipulates Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. So, as the grandmother represent the snake
finally contacting the Misfit, he wants no physical interaction with her and shoots her
three times for it. This may mean that the Misfit wanted no evil from the grandmother
for she had brought forth the destruction of her whole family as well herself.
Basically Flannery O’Conner integrated a great way to show both religion and
hypocrisy into one to make a great short story. Characters that are driven by their own
beliefs are coincidently together to create suspense, drama and critical thinking of ones
belief. Unlike most stories she developed her own way of creating a story “it’s probably
some action, some action, some gesture of a character that is unlike any other in the story,
one which indicates where the real heart of the story lies”. O’Conner could’ve easily
have written any other typical cliché stories but she instead writes about a story that has a
deeper meaning mixed in with suspense that makes you want to read from start to finish.
WORKS CITED
Bandy, C. Stephens. 'One Of My Babies': The Misfit and the Grandmother. Studies in
Short Fiction 33.1 (Winter 1996): p107-118.
Renner, Stanley. Secular Meaning in 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find'. Twentieth-Century
Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 132. Detroit: Gale, 2003. p123-132. From
Literature Resource Center.
Piedmont-Marton, Elisabeth. An overview of 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find'. Short
Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. From Literature Resource Center.
O’Conner, Flannery. “On Her Own Work”: The Element if Suspense in “A Good Man is
Hard to Find”. Literature, Compact Edition: Pearson, 2007
Schroeder, Gerald. Genesis and the Big Bang: The Discovery Of Harmony Between
Modern Science And The Bible. United States and Canada: Bantam, 1991.