A Good Man Is Hard to Find | Study Guide

Flannery O'Connor

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Course Hero. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find Study Guide." Course Hero. 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 20 Nov. 2018. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Good-Man-Is-Hard-to-Find/>.

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Course Hero. (2017, January 12). A Good Man Is Hard to Find Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved November 20, 2018, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Good-Man-Is-Hard-to-Find/

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Course Hero. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find Study Guide." January 12, 2017. Accessed November 20, 2018. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Good-Man-Is-Hard-to-Find/.

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Course Hero, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find Study Guide," January 12, 2017, accessed November 20, 2018, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/A-Good-Man-Is-Hard-to-Find/.

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

a-good-man-is-hard-to-find-flannery-o-connorGraceGod’s grace—always undeserved—falls on Grandmother as she realizes that all humans are part of one family. ThemesChanceBailey and Grandmother’s choices set off a chain of events that bring about their demise.55SPEEDLIMITSources: The Eternal Crossroads: The Art of Flannery O’Connor by Leon V. Driskell and Joan T. Brittain, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, National Book Foundation, National Catholic Register, New Georgia Encyclopedia, The O. Henry Prize Stories Copyright © 2016 Course Hero, Inc.Spiritual BlindnessGrandmother tries to convince The Misfit that he is ultimately good, but The Misfit can’t see it.Set in Georgia in the 1950s, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” chronicles a quarreling family’s road trip to Florida. When Grandmother, with the children’s help, convinces her son Bailey to take a side road to visit an old plantation, the road trip ends in the murder of the entire family—everyone, that is, except Grandmother’s cat.Had Things Been Different...OVERVIEWThe family sets off for Florida; Grandmother complains that The Misfit, a convict, is headed there.The Misfit and his sidekicks encounter the family and begin to murder them two by two.Though Grandmother tries to convince The Misfit he is a good man, he shoots her last.Grandmother gets Bailey to go down a dirt road to see an old plantation, but Pitty Sing jumps onto Bailey’s shoulder, causing a crash.At Red Sammy’s BBQ, they hear that The Misfit may be nearby.12354t would have been better for all of you, lady,if you hadn’t of reckernized me.The MisfitWell known for her short stories and novels, O’Connor grew up as somewhat of an outsider—a strict Catholic in the Bible Belt of Georgia. Themes of alienation and the often disruptive relationship between God and humankind appear in much of her writing, including “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”FLANNERY O’CONNOR1925–64AuthorMain CharactersGrandmotherPushy, small-minded woman living with her son's familyThe MisfitViolent escaped murdererBaileyCriticized, frazzled father; fails to deter murderersThe Children’s MotherBailey’s innocent but nearly invisible wifeJune StarJohn Wesley’s sassy sisterJohn WesleyBailey’s undisciplined eight-year-old sonPitty SingGrandmother's pampered cat A Good Man is Hard to Findby the NumbersYear O’Connor won the first of her three O. Henry Award first prizes for short fictionO’Connor’s age when she died of lupus—the same disease that killed her fatherStories O’Connor submitted as her master's thesis at Iowa State UniversityYear of the posthumous publication of O’Connor’s complete stories and year she won the National Book Award for Fiction 19721957396Flannery O'Connor1953EnglishShort StoryAuthorYear PublishedOriginal LanguageA Good ManIs Hard to FindHorror
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