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The story that I chose to write a response on is A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor. I found this story to be interesting because it starts out with this family that bickers like every normal family does and ends in a very startling way. The grandmother has a loose and free personality with a funny sense of humor which is the complete opposite of her son’s monotonous personality. It was also interesting that Bailey’s wife’s name is never revealed in the story and was referred to as the children’s mother. Even the grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, had more personality than their parents. It was definitely entertaining to read the children’s quick-witted comments throughout the story.
There was certainly some foreshadowing in the beginning of this story; when the grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida and said that the reason was because someone had escaped the Federal Pen and was heading that way. There was also a bit of irony when the family was heading toward east Tennessee to avoid The Misfit but end up practically colliding with him. I really felt for the grandmother when she is pleading with The Misfit and trying to convince him that he is a good man. There is definitely a conflict between good and evil when the grandmother started to talk about praying and Jesus with The Misfit. However, The Misfit tries to compare himself to Jesus because he feels like the punishment that he endured did not fit the wrong-doing much like in Jesus’ case.

O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2008. 445-455.