A good man is hard to find
The title:
What is a good man?
Some of the characters give different perspectives to this.
"A good man is hard to find," Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more." The grandma and Red Sammy believe that it is hard to find trustworthy men. Furthermore, the grandmother considers Red Sammy as a good man for giving some boys driving a Chrysler gas. She also tries to convince the Misfit that he is a good man because she thinks that he is nice. But the misfit does not think so. "Nome, I ain't a good man," The Misfit said after a second ah if he had considered her statement carefully, "but I ain't the worst in the world neither.” The grandmother believes that a good man is made by a good family. She believes that the misfit is good inside because he comes from a good family. She also believes that she comes from a good family; therefore she is good. Jesus is also mentioned, but is Jesus a good man? The grandmother claims that Jesus is, but the reason to why the Misfit kills is because of Jesus. Lastly, Bailey stopped the black sedan after the accident, hoping for a good man, but he wasn’t a good man. So what I have come up with is that O’Conner is trying to show us about the what goodness is, and the grandmother’s misconception of goodness, since the grandmother isn’t a good.
The Family’s Death
It was the grandmother’s fault. I think if the grandmother would have kept quiet, no one would have died. “‘You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?’ the grandmother…..‘I would hate to have to,’ he said.” Even as the family was dying, the grandmother was had no sorrow, she was just trying to save herself. Therefore, I think that the misfit killed them all cause of the grandmother’s selfishness.
The Ending
The grandmother called the misfit her child. This was very confusing, but I think that the grandmother realized that she was not good. She was a hypocrite, looking good, doesn’t make you. It is a moment of grace and the misfit acknowledges this. “"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."” Then again, knowing her characteristics, she could have done that just to try saver her life, but was too late.
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Out of everything that you typed Duncan I can actually see a clear theme to this story line. I was very confused on the theme was because none that i came up with was actually relevant to the whole book itself because the story has so many aspects of it. I think the last quotation that you gave us " She would of been a good woman... If it had been sombody there to shoot her every minute of her life." throughout the book we see events happening by people nagging to each other. One good example of this is when the kids are asking the grandma to go on a road trip. The kids symbolize the gun at her head. This is because even if she responds no they will just keep nagging her to make her even more mentally inept. if the kids didn't nag and went on with life she wouldn't have gone thus, symbolizing the every minute of her life part of the quote. So what we can get from the theme of the book is " Humanity lets the world go until something upsets the balance of the world and tries to fix it again and resume with the world letting it be untill another force disturbs the peace of the world." any other themes that seem important to anyone else who read this story would be great.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what brandon is saying however I agree with your opinion about the grandmother's feeling while her family is being massacred around her. She was only thinking of herself and not her family when she said, "you wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?" However is it not human nature to try to protect yourself in times of danger? Would you not plead to be spared even as your family was dying? Woudn't you beg, bargain, or fight to escape peril? I just thought I would show another perspective on the grandmother's actions.
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