Summary of the Novel Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O’Connor is renowned for a peculiar manner of writing, characterized by the description of unlucky events interwoven with the important lessons to the readers. The most highly acclaimed work is a novel entitled Good Man is Hard to Find. In the narrative, the author, applying her own style of writing, tells a story about a merciless murder of an ordinary family. As a consequence, a novel has become a worldwide masterwork of the modern times.

In the hardcover, an impatient grandma, living with the son, Bailey, his wife and children, does not see eye to eye with the family on the venue for a planned vacation. In the course of the novel, it comes to light that the grandmother appears to be a manipulative woman who wants to have her wishes fulfilled. Bailey’s kids, John Wesley and June Star, seem to be spoilt and disobedient owing to the lack of parental care and attention as their mother is a careless and impassive person. Her behavior can be an outcome of the controlling tendencies of the grandma. As for Bailey, he is quite secretive and reticent.

The grandmother’s egotism and selfishness are displayed in a great deal of situations in the narrative. Firstly, she is in an attempt to force Bailey to change the venue for a vacation to Tennessee. She is willing to persuade her son that Tennessee is a dangerous place since a culprit, Misfit, who has escaped from the prison, settles there. Secondly, while talking to the criminal in order to save herself, she expresses no worries for her family who end up departing this life.

Owing to the protagonist, the grandmother, the readers can learn valuable lessons from the narrative. At the very beginning, she tells the kids that she has an intention to dress well when she passes away so that she could be recognized as a true woman. It implies that this individual bothers about her outlook and appearance instead of being concerned with the inner beauty. However, in the course of the story, grandma changes her opinion by maintaining that it is complicated to find a good man. Moreover, she attempts to convince Misfit that murdering her would not be the right act to perform.

O’Connor’s narratives have always had hidden religious implications, and a novel Good Man is Hard to Find seems to have a concealed meaning. The readers claim that the grandmother, being the main character, teaches that every person stands a remote chance to prove their value before death.