Throughout my life my parents, peers, and teachers have shaped my thoughts and beliefs. Some of them have taught me my values; others have shaped my way of life. Granted, I have known that everyone has been raised differently, no two people are alike which I don’t find as a bad thing. However when I compare myself to the characters in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”; our views and lifestyles appear to be complete opposites. For instance, the Grandmother in O’Connor’s story appears to be perfect, then as the story continues, it becomes obvious that she is a very manipulative woman. The “perfect” Grandmother makes me wonder whether she never had values to begin with or if she just forgot them at that time in her life. Consequently: her family, including: her son Bailey, his wife, her grandson John Wesley, and her granddaughter June Star; were not too respectful of her as a family member and an adult. In addition to the family, there is also another character whose morals and values I question, the Misfit. The author paints an intricate picture that to me shows faultless examples of, “the loss of respect for adults and family”.

y is set in motion it appears that the Grandmother is the ideal relative, which is shown when she offers to take the baby from her worn-out daughter-in-law, “she set him on her knee and bounced him and told him about the things they were passing” (O’Connor 1955). My views began to change as the action of the story was set in motion. When the family was in their car wreck and ran into the Misfit, the Grandmothers true colors began to show. For instance, when she felt her life was in danger, she claimed that she was a devout Christian, of good blood. She was persistent in telling the Misfit all this and then commenting to him that she knew he was a good man and that she recognized that he, “didn’t look a bit like he had common blood in him” (O’Connor 1955). In spite of all this, the icing on the cake, is that even though she is a “devout Christian”, she never questions why the Misfit killed her only son and the rest of her family, her only words to the Misfit were, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” Now what kind of sweet and loving Grandmother is that?

Last but not least, we have the wicked Misfit. Contrary to his name, my first impression of him was the most favorable. When he first came in contact with the family, he was in an old beat up truck and exited from the vehicle with-out a shirt on. Bailey made yet another rude comment to his mother, when to my surprise, the Misfit quickly responded to Bailey’s comment, reaching out to the Grandmother saying, “Lady, don’t you get upset: Sometimes a man says things he don’t mean. I don’t reckon he ment to talk to you thataway” (O’Connor 1955). In simpler terms, it appeared that he had the most respect for women and elders,

Some topics in this essay:
June Star, Misfit Contrary, Misfit Grandmothers, Flannery O’Connor, Grandmother O’Connor’s, John Wesley, Grandmother Grandmother’s, Hard Throughout, Hard Find”, Flannery O’Connor’s, june star, o’connor 1955, john wesley, little june, little june star, hard find”, story set motion, “a hard, cute little, set motion, story set, son bailey, grandson john wesley, “a hard find”,