A Good Man Is Hard To Find Paper

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Imagery in A Good Man Is Hard to Find In literature, authors generally use symbolism to get their point across without beating you over the head with it. They use a combination of literary elements to be used as symbols in their story. Colors, places, names, double entendres, among a list of other things can be used as a symbol for other things or as for foreshadowing for the rest of the story. In O’Connor’s short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, she does just that. By using imagery and play on words, she helps to create symbols that cause a deep sense of foreboding and imagery to help understand the story better. In the story, the family is leaving for a trip to Florida. The grandmother is deeply upset as she much rather go to Tennessee, her home state. After stopping at a place to eat where they learned about a murderer on the loose, they pass and enter a town called Toombsboro. While maybe overlooked as the reader is reading it, when they say it out loud, it is pronounced “Tombs-boro”. It alludes to the fact that the family isn’t just driving past the city, but to their death. Another image of symbolism comes directly after the family crashes their car. As the family is gathering their bearings, the grandmother surveys their surroundings. Where their accident has taken place could not be anymore desolate. They were in a wood with dangerous curves and hills “with the dust-covered tree looking down on them” (O’Connor 190). Suddenly, like a beacon of hope, another car comes their way. As the reader, you might think that this is a good sign. Some decent soul is going to help this poor family and put them out of their misery! However, with the way the car and its descent down the hill is described, it is quickly shown that this is not a sign of hope, but a sign of despair. A car that is “a big black battered hearse-like automobile” (O’Connor 191) slowly

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