Sometimes we tend to ingnore other people, when they are trying to give us advice. this was the case with Bailey the son in Flannery O'Conner's short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." The Grandmother tried to convince Bailey to go to Tennessee, rather than Florida on their family vacation. Whether she had a premonition or she was just being controlling, is to be determined. However, if Bailey had listened to her, the family's life might have been spared.
The grandmother could be very self-centered, controlling, talkative and burdensome. these may be reasons her son, Bailey chose not to take her advice.
In the beginning of the story, we find the grandmother really wanted to go to East Tennessee. The narrator states that "she wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she wasseizing at every chance to change Bailey's mind"(495). .
The grandmother's self-centerdness once again shines throught when she insists they go off track to see an old house she wanted to see. "She knew Bailey would not be willing to lose any time looking at an old house" (500), so she showed her craftieness by enticing the grandchildren into wanting to see it. She mentioned a secret panel in the old house, knowing this would capture the attention of the children and they would also want to go see the house. She knew the children would aggrivate their father until he gave in and went where they wanted to go. after all, she had lived with them and knew how they would react.
The grandmother could be very talkative. this probably saved her from being killed first, but also was the main reason why the family was killed. When thje accident happened and the misfit drove up, she blurted out "You're the misfit" (503). The misfit then replied "'Yes'm, but it would have been better for all of you, lady, it you hadn't of reernized me."' (503).
She also became very talkative during the ordeal when the misfit was killing her family.
They do not listen to grandma and go on with the vacation. ... "The Misfit" does not want to listen and kills the grandmother anyways. ... The grandmother seems to not know who a "good"" person is. ... "Listen, I know you're a good man. ... There was a reason he wanted to start everything in the beginning, but nobody knows, but the killer himself. ...
This is probably in part to my parents and Grandmother, all of whom are involved in psychology. ... -I think communication is very important - especially LISTENING. ... Not fix their problems, offer them advice, just listen and be supportive and perhaps comforting. ... -NOBODY and I mean NOBODY has the right to INVALIDATE ANYONE'S FEELINGS! ... This ties into listening and feelings above, and other philosophies of mine. ...
Listen lady," he said in a high voice, "if I had been there I would have known and I wouldn"t be like I am now... The grandmother first tells the Misfit that: "I know you"re a good man. ... The Misfit shot the grandmother three times in the chest. ... The grandmother then called him one of her children right before she died. ... "And I don"t count nobody out of that, not nobody" (122). ...
When she encounters the Misfit, the Grandmother says to him, "Listen, I know you"re a good man. ... It can be argued that the grandmother really is a good woman. ... She is able to reach him in a way that nobody else has. ... It is quit possible that the only reason The Misfit hadn't changed his mind before about the pleasure of killing is simply because nobody had ever challenged his way of thinking. Nobody bothered to ask about his life or tell him that there is another side to living. ...
My grandmother then asks me well, how, I can help. ... My grandmother shared that her mother who is my great grandmother was the daughter of a great Indiana women. ... My grandmother (Edna) also told me that my great, great, great, great, grandmother was the first black lady to start a Baptist Church in the South. ... My Pastor has been there for me when nobody else was. ... Listening to the music is where I gain relaxation and praying and reading the Word of God is where I get my perspective clear on certain things and situations. ...
Mama begins, and then I stop listening." ... And he doesn't like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless he is working."... ... Esperanza was named after her great-grandmother, but she never had the chance to know her. Knowing how her great-grandmother never wanted to get married, but was forced to do so. ... (p. 10-11) When Esperanza heard the story and how great her great-grandmother was, she was not so ashamed of her name and was glad that she inherited the name, but she did not want to inherit how her life went. ...
Janie is raised by her Grandmother and spends her life traveling with different men until she finally returns home. ... Not only, did Janie find her love in many different ways she felt that her grandmother and her husband Joe never let her have any freedom. ... Nobody couldn't git me tuh tie no rag on mah head if Ah had hair lak dat"(Ch.5). ... Unlike Joe, Tea Cake does not silence Janie but actually listens to her and even reads into her expressions, something that Joe completely ignored.Another characteristic that distinguishes Tea Cake from Janie's previous husbands is his willin...
The group photos were the funniest, as the wedding took place in mid-May, but it snowed heavily and was so cold that nobody wanted to leave the warmth of the church. ... One anecdote of my mothers that never fails to make me smile, is that of the time my grandmother offered to take me for a long weekend. My parents enjoyed one day of rest until a call came from my grandmother, saying she was too exhausted to be able to handle me anymore, could they please collect me so she could have a quiet cup of tea. ... On the swings together, playing with soft animals, listening to stories on a parent&...
