“A
Good Man is Hard to Find”
1)
O’Connor argued that not only is The
Misfit more intelligent than the grandmother but his “capacity for grace” is
greater than hers. Do you agree with this? Why or why not? Provide proof of
your belief.
2)
Some readers have found the
grandmother sympathetic and others have found her a figure of evil, portrayed
with imagery often associated with witches. What do you think of her?
3)
Between The Misfit and the grandmother, who seems to have a more solid
foundation in faith?
Definitions
of grace: a state of sanctification by God; the
state of one who is under such divine influence, elegance and beauty of
movement or expression
Quotes from the author:
“All my
stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to
support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and
brutal.”
“Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether
they believe it or not.”
“I preach there are all kinds of truth, your
truth and somebody else's. But behind all of them there is only one truth and
that is that there's no truth.”
“The truth does not change according to our
ability to stomach it.”
“While much attention has been paid to the scene between the
Grandmother and the Misfit at the climax of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” only
passing attention has been paid to a scene early in the story where the
Grandmother makes comments from the car about “the cute little pickaninny,” and
no explication to date has revealed the Christian mystery behind the Southern manners
in the scene. In this crucial passage, through the use of biblical allusion,
O'Connor allows the Grandmother the chance to reveal her essential self and
prepares the reader for the climax of the story” (Walls).
Southern Culture
The road as a metaphor for life:
Religious Signs in the South:
