A Good Man is Hard to Find
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 relates to the story because the Grandmother calls two different men “Good” men. Both of the men were completely opposite. One was a hard worker at a small family owned restaurant and the other was the Misfit who was on the run from the Federal Pen. When they come across the owner of the restaurant, he explains that the good in the world simply isn’t there anymore and he tells them about how he let two people take some gas. The grandma calls him a good man. Then when they come across the Misfit after their accident, she pleads with him that he is a “Good” man, further irritating him. The so called “Good” Man ends up shooting everyone.
Everyone has a perception of what a “Good” man is. So “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a fitting title for this story. If the restaurant owner and the Misfit, though completely polar opposite, are good men, then finding a good man would be hard to find, because of the different meanings of good.
Everday Use
3. Some critics have suggested that Dee uses language to oppress her family (in much the same way that we saw in Oleanna) and, additionally try to force upon mother and sister knowledge that is impractical and probably unnecessary for either of them. On one hand, Dee might be seen as very caring but misguided –she’s trying to convince Mama and Maggie to question or reject the system of oppression to which they appear to have completely acceded. On the other, Dee doesn’t try to show them they are oppressed but oppresses them herself, depending upon her education and experiences to demonstrate that she has “seen the light” and escaped the very oppression she imagines Mama and Maggie have willingly complied with. Which is it? Why do you think so?
In this story, Dee seems like she’s trying to show her family what they’re missing, that there is a bigger world out there and that they are free to do what they please now, free to get an education (which she makes a big show about with her vocabulary and grammar) and free to be their own person (her changing her name). She’s very stuck up and just her presence puts the younger sister on edge. She causes turmoil in her mother’s house, wanting certain things now that she is grown but when she is told ‘no’ about the quilts, she immediately says that they don’t understand their heritage. If anything, they know more about it than she does. She is so caught up in what she can do now that she doesn’t even respect her roots. She doesn’t respect her given name or her family. Instead she oppresses them with her knowledge, with her new found freedom and outspoken behavior. But, really she is the one being fooled. She hasn’t seen the light, but her mother and her sister have, because of her visit. Just because you’re free doesn’t give you the right to go crazy and forget where you came from.
I appreciated what you said-"If the restaurant owner and the Misfit, though completely polar opposite, are good men, then finding a good man would be hard to find, because of the different meanings of good." I did not think about how the grandmother called the store owner good as well. This also suggests that the grandmother's perception of good is really skewed. She is in her own eyes a good woman, but good to the degree of her own definition and interpretation. In her book, good can apply to a responsible business man or a killer. In her case, the grandmother's perception of "good" is acting like a lady or a gentleman. The misfits good manners is what leads her to believe that he is good. Truly, good is socially constructed and defined, because of the paradox you mentioned.
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