Blog # 3

"A Good Man is Hard to Find"

2. Do you think the grotesque elements present in either or both stories makes the characters more or less sympathetic? Do you find them alienating, or do they help render the characters more fully human and understandable?

I think the grotesque elements make the characters seem more sympathetic because you can actually relate to what is going on with all of them, it is a short view into what that character is about. It also helps render the characters more human and understandable because if you didn't understand the elements the story would just seem like something out of a movie, it would loss all creditability. These elements help you refer to the other characters in the story as well because you see what their points of view are.

3. Discuss the title of "A Good Man is Hard to Find"- how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?

The title "A Good Man is Hard to Find" relates to the story because in the first part of the story the Grandmother talks about people when she was growing up and how they were so much more respectful, trusting, and just better all around. Then she interacts with two men one who is trying to be a good man and the other one is so far on the other side of being a good men, but she refers to both characters in the same manner. The first man the grandmother refers to is Red Sammy the owner of The Tower (a restaurant), he is a small town business man who doesn't have much. He said to the grandmother "These days you don't know who to trust", and she tells him that is a good man. The second person that the grandmother refers to is the Misfit, she tries to talk him out of doing something bad like killing everyone. "You are a good man" that is what she tells him over and over again and yet he still kills the whole family. I think the title of this story does provide insight but it an opposite way, showing people the bad is a tactic to get them to see what good can be inside. There aren't a lot of "Good Men" in this story yet that is what the title is, it almost seems fitting. I feel the grandmother tries to find the good in everyone through out the story and that is where the title comes from. It was a good story, just sad and depressing at the very end.