A Good Man Is Hard to Find By Flannery O’Connor

1. A Good Man Is Hard to FindBy Flannery O’Connor Jasmine, Lakhbir, Cassie and Pharoah

2. Plot summary • A Good Man is Hard to Find is about a family who is going on vacation to Florida, but the grandmother wants to go to Tennessee. • In order to convince her son to take the family to Tennessee she tells him about a murderer who is on the loose in Florida known as the Misfit. • While on their way to Florida. The Grandmother convinces the family to stop at a plantation house. • On their way to the house the grandmother realizes that she was mistaken about where the house is and panics causing her cat to get loose and initiating a series of events that result in the families car flipping over. • While the family is on the side of the road the Misfit and his gang show up at the scene. • The Grandmother recognizes the Misfit. • The Misfit ends up having his men kill the family and the Misfit kills the grandmother after she tries to reach out to touch him.

3. Appearance of Grandmother • The grandmother has bright brown eyes. (pg 229) • She makes a point to dress well so everyone will know she is a lady. (pg227)

4. Grandmother’s Speech • She likes to think about the good ol’ days. “In my time, children were more respectful…” (pg 228) • “People are certainly not nice like they used to be,…” (pg. 229) when talking to Red Sam. • She tells white lies to try to get her way. “’There was a secret panel in this house,’ she said craftily, not telling the truth…” and “’that all the family silver was hidden in it…’” (pg 230) • “Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!” (pg. 228) Gives the reader an idea of the time she comes from.

5. The Character of Grandmother • We believe the story takes place in the 1950’s b/c of the background info given before the story. The clothing also makes us think the story takes place in the 1950’s. Yellow shirt with blue parrots, the whit gloves and straw hat the grandmother is wearing. • Their in Georgia, “Let’s go through Georgia fast so we wont have to look at it..” (pg. 228) • We also believe they are a middle class family who lives in the suburbs. • The music is also a good indicator of the time. “mother put a dime in the machine and played ‘The Tennessee Waltz,’…” (pg. 229) • When the grandmother says “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do.” (pg. 228) gives a good indication of where she comes from.

6. Grandmothers Thoughts & Feelings • The grandmother seems to be very dramatic b/c “When she told the story she rolled her eyes and waved her head and was very dramatic.” (pg. 228) • The grandmother is embarrassed that she was mistaken about where the house was and causing the accident that she is “hoping that she was injured so that Bailey’s wrath would not come down on her all at once.” (pg. 231)

7. Grandmothers Relationships w/Other Characters • Grandmother is the mother of Bailey the grandmother of his children. • She is manipulating towards them. She wants to go to Tennessee but they want to go to Florida. She is trying to change her son’s mind about going to Florida, “she wants to visit….east Tennessee and was seizing at every chance to change Bailey’s mind”(par1). • Bailey often ignores her. “Bailey didn’t look up from his reading”. (par 2). • The children are disrespectful to her. “If you don’t want to go to Florida stay home”. She lies to them to get what she wants. Telling the kids “there is a secret panel in the house”. She knows this will send the children in an uproar and it will cause her son to go to the house. • She also tries to manipulate the Misfit by attempting to forge a bond w/him. “calling him a good man” (par. 88). She even calls him “one of her own children”. (par 136) An attempt to save her life.

8. The Claim about Grandmother • The grandmother is a manipulating and dramatic old woman who likes to reminisce about the good old days and doesn’t know when to keep quite.