She doesn’t want to go to Florida, but to Tennessee instead, and to get her way she tries to scare Bailey and puts him on a guilt trip with reports of a criminal on the loose. “’Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did.’" (277). She does anything in her power such as lying just manipulate to get her way, she purposely says something false to ensure the children will persuade their dad, "’There was a secret panel in this house,’ she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, ‘and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found .
There are several examples of her deceitful and untrustworthy actions. In the beginning of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida” (O’ Connor 9), so she made up false excuses to try to persuade her family to take her to Tennessee. On the way to Florida, she lied to the children about the secret panel by telling them, “‘There was a secret panel in this house not telling the truth but wishing that she were” (O’ Connor 16,17) so she can get what she wants and visit the old plantation. She also chooses not to reveal that she made a mistake about the location of the house. In addition, the grandmother talks about Jesus with The Misfit when she hopes that it might help save her life.
It seems unfair, as she loves her child but she knew the consequences of having a child outside marriage, so knew what would happen to her and her son. Arthur Kipps is kept in the dark about the WiB, and is haunted by her. He is in an isolated place, he is a stranger to the village and isolated in the knowledge of the truth. He is unable to talk to anyone about seeing the WiB as if he does, he may seem mad himself. The WiB is a ghost; no-one can see her.
The narrator explains that the "grandmother didn't want to go to Florida" (320). Although a major conflict could result from her dislike of the family's choice of vacation spots, it does not. When the grandmother first speaks she asks Bailey to read a newspaper article that she has found. She attempts to change his mind about not going to Florida, by saying, "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people..." (320). Bailey does not make eye contact with her.
September 10, 2012 Standing Your Ground in Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” In Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother is a main character in the story whose moral value is revealed later to be little to none. The grandmother keeps referring herself to being a “lady” even though throughout the story she is very self-centered, and stubborn, wanting things done her way. In the beginning, she is eager to show how she feels against the family taking vacation to Florida. Instead she wants to travel to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee. While traveling, the grandmother is best dressed from head to toe with her collars and cuffs being white organdy trimmed with lace, so in case of an accident she would be seen
Gloria Limon Jonathan T. Jones English 1301 September 30, 2012 “A Good Man is Hard to Find “and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” This are compelling story’s when it comes to the human nature of our lives for the following reasons. In a good man is hard to find, grandma manipulates the family to take a wrong turn. Family already having their plans made heading to Florida they decide to listen to the grandma. Grandma nicely dressed and having a certain kind of religion that to her is prime and proper to her following the rules but who knows maybe false indeed. Grandma knowing what is right and wrong, and she knows that a Goodman is hard to find.
The grandmother shows she is good by finally giving in and going with the family to Florida. She already knew that the Misfit was evil and was scared what may happen to the family if they came in contact with him while going to Florida. Even the Red Sam said “a good man is hard to find ( O’Connor 303).” The grandmother defines Red Sam as a good man with values that are aligned with hers. Red Sam is seen as good because trusts people blindly. The family meets the Misfit after the family is involved in a car wreck on the way to Florida.
Religion in “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” Have you ever read a story and been completely shocked by the ending? Was the final ending of the story what you were expecting or something completely different? Did the ending make you re-think the purpose of the story? In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor, a story is told about a grandmother that goes on a road trip to Georgia with her son, Bailey, his wife and their three kids, two of whom named John Wesley and June Star. The grandmother warns Bailey of a convict that is on the loose in Georgia, who calls himself The Misfit, and tries to manipulate him into going to Tennessee where she wants to go but it doesn’t work and they go Georgia anyway.
1. TEXT: A Good Man is Hard To Find 2. DESCRIPTION: The story begins with a typical nuclear family from Georgia that is planning a family vacation to Florida but is being challenged by the grandmother who does not want to vacation in Florida. The grandmother has read about a crazed killer by the name of the misfit who has escaped from the pen and headed to Florida. _ Instead of staying behind the morning of the trip, the grandmother is the first one in the car.
The death of the family might be an expression of an underlying design. Although the children describe the car crash as an “ACCIDENT”, O’Connor represents the working of fate and bringing their family to their destiny. Throughout the story the Grandmother brought the Misfit to surface, even in the first paragraph "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it.