Literature plays a crucial role in influencing people’s perspectives of life. Works of literature, be it poems, short stories, spoken word, or songs, are influenced by several factors. The main source of inspiration is personal experiences and the writer’s background. Reading a piece of work and analyzing its contextual setting gives one a hint of the writer’s purpose and the role of background and experiences in their writing. “A Good Man Is Hard to find” is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor and published in 1955. The story has been described differently by different people, with all of them acknowledging her skill and artistic beauty. Some have viewed it as a cynical tale based on its depiction of human self-centeredness and pettiness. Others have looked at it through the religious lens and found it to represent the amazing ways in which God shows his grace to humankind. This essay is based on the thesis that Flannery O’Connor’s writing was inspired by his childhood experiences, personal beliefs, and writing experiences gained throughout her interactions.
Flannery was inspired to write the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by her childhood experiences and faith. Flannery’s writing was influenced by her deep-rooted faith in Roman Catholicism. She attended St. Vincent’s, a catholic school located in Savana (Moran, 2018). This formed the basis of her catholic faith which has remained a pillar in her writing since then. When her father became sick in 1938, they moved to Milledgeville and resided in her mother’s ancestral home. Witnessing her father’s illness, O’Connor contemplated the helplessness of man and the mercies of God. These, accompanied by her strong belief in God, formed in her a perception of man as inferior, petty, and in need of God’s mercy. This is reflected in how she subtly depicts the grandmother and the Misfit to represent the conflict between the inner and outer man.
In the story, O’Connor portrays the grandmother as a self-seeking individual who believes that she is righteous without seeking to understand whether her actions are right in the eyes of God. The grandmother’s dialogue with the Misfit forms the story’s theme whereby the grandmother tries in vain to act godly and even at some point tells the Misfit, “you are a good man” (Hani, 2019). This ironic statement presents the extent to which human beings can go in denying the truth to achieve their goals. Influenced by her Catholic faith, O’Connor tries to show that human beings can behave contrary to God’s will in a bid to save their physical bodies.
O’Connor’s firm stand on piety and morality was formed earlier in her life and influenced her character choice in the story “A Good Man is Hard to find.” This was demonstrated when she stayed at Yaddo following a recommendation after winning the Rinehart-Iowa Fiction Award in 1947. During her stay at Yaddo, a famous journalist believed to be a communist was investigated by the FBI, giving negative publicity to the Yaddo. O’Connor was obliged to leave along with some of her fellow writers. In her letter to her Rinehart contact, John Shelby, she expressed her uncompromised stand. She wrote, “I am amenable to criticism but only within the sphere of what I am trying to do. I will not be persuaded to do otherwise” (Thi Bich Thuan, 2017). This experience is reflected in her firm stand concerning the grandmother’s quick denial of her faith. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the grandmother told the Misfit that maybe “Jesus did not raise the dead” to escape what she saw as her approaching death.
In conclusion, literature has been used to inform, criticize and encourage a particular way of life. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” O’Connor reveals her life’s principles shaped by her strong Christian faith. Growing up as a firm believer in Roman Catholicism, O’Connor displayed an unwavering stand on principles of morality and godliness. Her depiction of human pettiness and God’s grace in this story served as a warning to readers who are so quick to compromise to obtain mercy but end up losing their lives in the end.
References
Hani, M. (2019). Analysis of social problem in a good man is hard to find by Flannery O’Connor. English Community Journal, 3(1), 342. Web.
Moran, D. (2018). Revelation and convergence: Flannery O’Connor and the Catholic intellectual tradition ed. by Mark Bosco, SJ and Brent little. American Catholic Studies, 129(1), 79-80. Web.
Thi Bich Thuan, L. (2017). Character analysis through politeness in a good man is hard to find by Flannery O’Connor. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(4), 218. Web.