A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Did not see the ending to this one coming...
The Facts
Text: A Good Man is Hard to Find Author: Flannery O'Connor
Genre: Southern Gothic, Thriller Year: 1953
Available: Free Here
Content warning: Racist language about Black people including use of a slur. Car accident Violence. Violence toward children.
The Fiction
I don't what I suspected this week's story to be about. Romance I suppose going by the title. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" had me in mind of some sort of romantic comedy. I could see a modern 2000's rom-com about a plucky woman struggling to find love meeting Mr. Right with that title. Flannery O'Connor's 1953 short story A Good Man is Hard to Find is decidedly not a light hearted rom-com. It is a discussion about morality through the lens of an aged southern lady and her family's road trip that ends in way you won't believe. Spoilers below! I really recommend you read this week's without knowing the twist!
The story starts with the grandmother, the protagonist, trying to convince her family to take a vacation to Tennessee instead of Florida. The family consists of her son, Bailey, his wife, and their three children John Wesley, June Star, and an unnamed baby. In her bid to convince the family not to go to Florida she points out that in the newspaper there is a report of a dangerous serial killer called The Misfit who is thought to be headed toward Florida. She states she would never be able to morally bring her children near a serial killer, but the family puts their foot down. Also John Wesley and June Star are little hellions.
The family all piles into the car the next day to head to Florida with the grandmother having snuck her cat under the seat knowing Bailey wont let her take it, but refusing to leave it at home. The narration points out she is dressed as a proper "Lady".
During the car ride the grandmother passes time by pointing out landmarks and telling stories. She is pretty judgmental character believing that things we were better back in her day.
The grandmother starts to tell a story about a house from her youth and begins describing it in detail. She decides she wants to see it again and claims it is nearby where they are as they drive through Georgia. She describes a story people used to tell about the house, that there is secret panel with treasure inside, and no one ever found it. (She admits in the narration that she is lying). This gets the kids attention, John Wesley and June Star throw a fit until Bailey agrees to make the detour.
The Grandmother leads them down a dirt road for a while claiming they are only 20 minutes away. As the family heads down the back roads Bailey claims if they don't get to this house soon he's turning around. The grandmother has a terrible thought, and in her shock she jostles the space where the cat is hidden. The cat leaps onto Bailey shoulder and he crashes the car.
Bailey's wife is thrown from the car with the baby and she breaks her shoulder. Everyone else is tumbled around the car as it flips, but no one is killed. The grandmother reflects she wishes she were hurt worse because it might spare her Bailey's anger about the cat. She decides not to tell him the thought that occurred to her that gave her such a shock: that the house she had been remembering was in Tennessee not Georgia, and that they were no where near it.
The family, battered, wait in a ditch as a car approaches them. Three men step out, with the leader ordering the younger two men to help the family with their car and telling the family not to move. All three men have guns. The grandmother realizes she recognizes this man: he's the Misfit, the escaped killer she read about! The Misfit has Bailey and John Wesley brought into the woods by his henchman and two gunshots are heard. Then he has the mother, the baby, and June Star brought into the woods where three more shots are heard.
All the while he speaks with the grandmother who can't shut up. She keeps telling him he must be a good man because she can tell he is not from the "common people". She insists he wouldn't kill a Lady. The Misfit and her discuss religion and their philosophies with her loosing faith, and him proclaiming to have never had any. The story ends with the grandmother proclaiming the Misfit is "one of her own" and him shooting her himself. The whole family wiped out by their ill fated run in.
The Feeling
As I said this story really surprised me. I was not expecting this to be a story of a family running into and then being wiped out by a group of escaped convicts. This isn't even a horror thriller with this plot, because O'Connor isn't telling this story to titilate or scare the reader.
There is a moral and philosophical exploration being done in this story. The first big thing to talk about is the hypocrisy of the grandmother. She spends the whole story believing she is a good person, and infarct better than the people around her. But she also spends the whole story lying to the people around her, and ultimately it is her actions that lead to the death of the family. The family should never have been on those backroads, but she directed them there to see the house from her memories. They never would have agreed to see the house if she hadn't lied about it having a secret panel. Finally they never would have crashed on that road if she hadn't snuck her cat into the car.
The other ironic point of this story is the dialogue between the grandmother and the serial killer the Misfit. She becomes increasingly uncertain or herself and her beliefs. Meanwhile the Misfit, while a killer, has a code and a sure understanding of the world that he lives by. The grandmother's belief in the way they the world works, that a man like the Misfit could be a killer, that being a Lady would protect her, that prayer can get to the heart of anybody, that bad things can't happen to people like her, this is all questioned and thrown out.
This is a dark story, but also surprising, and not gruesome simply for the sake of it. There is a morality to the story and complex characters. It is good writing that makes you wonder if the serial killer has a point. The Misfit is a fascinating villain. While a killer he is also polite, apologizing to the women for appearing before them without a shirt. He seems embarrassed at times at having to hold the family hostage, but never remorseful. His view on life about punishment and action is also really interesting dialogue. The compelling serial killer has become a bit of a staple now, with characters like Hannibal Lecter capturing the pop culture imagination, and The Misfit seems to fit in that same vein of Evil, but Interesting.
So this week's dark story was a surprise! Just goes to show you that you never know what's around that dusty bend in the road.
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