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.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
A Good Man is Hard to Find: Question 2 & 3
I believe that the grotesque elements in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” fully bring out the humanity in the main characters presented. Throughout one’s lifetime it is easy to identify a good, bad, and ugly side to a person’s character or situation he/she must face. Humanity is on full display through people and circumstances that are imperfect. Therefore “A Good Man is Hard to Find” enables others to relate to the imperfect nature of people and situations. The Grandmother and the Misfit both display this reality in different ways. The Grandmother who professes to be a religious individual shows inconsistencies in her behavior. She believes she is moral and holds others to this expectation of morality. The ironic thing is, she is fraudulent in her behavior as well. She lies to her grandchildren, she is manipulative with her son, and hypocritically expects others to uphold pure moral behavior when she herself does not. Additionally, she tells the Misfit to confess to Jesus when she herself cannot fully do so. The contradictory, inconsistent behavior and expectations of this woman at face value may not be seen as a positive, until people understand that they are all broken and imperfect just like this woman. This means any person that has lied, any person that has been a hypocrite should be able to relate to this particular woman. If one is honest with him/herself he/she would be able to understand that life is far from perfect and often times the antithesis of a fairy tale. For this reason humanity is on full display through the depiction of the Grandmother. The Misfit on the other hand, although he commits crimes and ends up taking the life of the Grandmother, also shows humanity through his grotesque nature. By nature it seems as if he is a pariah of society and a monster, however upon further analysis one can see that he is consistent in his nature. The Misfit never strays from the type of man he presents himself to be, he doesn’t necessarily prevaricate by saying he is a criminal and then acts in any other way that contradicts this nature. Rather he stays true to the man he is, although questionable and controversial, allowing others to relate. People are often times so convicted in something that their behavior does not easily meander despite the circumstances. Here people can relate to the humanity of the Misfit, who is so convicted to be a criminal figure that nothing will deter him from this. Although this is controversial, people can relate or appreciate the idea of being devoted to a cause that nothing will take them off this course. Devotion is a humanistic quality that people can relate to and although it is at the expense of a something controversial, humanity still shines brightly through this example. Both the Grandmother and the Misfit shows glimpses of humanity through their respective grotesque natures.
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” stays true to its title. The title of this story implies that the term “good man” is relative in nature and is ultimately elusive because of its subjectivity. The Grandmother calls two men “good.” However the fact of the matter is, both men are different in temperament and nature that it is unlikely that both men can be “good.” On one hand there is an owner of the Tower Restaurant, Red Sammy Butts who gets the ”compliment” that he is a good man after he allows a few men take gasoline. Here one can imply that the Grandmother’s definition of good entails somebody that is naïve and shows poor judgment. This person who has been taken advantage of is called “good” by the grandmother because he has allowed such things to pass. On the other hand is the Misfit who is called “good” by the grandmother herself. He is living a life of crime and “meanness” which by many peoples’ view would not entail any goodness, yet when the grandmother is threatened, she calls him “good.” In the end, the fact of the matter is, both men cannot be “good” to an equal degree and it is possible that both men can’t genuinely be seen by the Grandmother as “good” people at all. The point of the title is that a good man is hard to find because the definition of good is subjective in nature. The Grandmother shows through her personality that she is easily influenced by the situations and circumstances that work to change the meaning of her definition of “good.” A good man is hard to find because the Grandmother shows that she does not firmly establish or know what a good man is. Both the Misfit and Red Sammy Butts can’t be good in the same capacity to the Grandmother. Considering that the grandmother does not know what a good man is, in essence the title, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is fitting. If she were consistent in her definition of a “good man,” the title would be different.
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” stays true to its title. The title of this story implies that the term “good man” is relative in nature and is ultimately elusive because of its subjectivity. The Grandmother calls two men “good.” However the fact of the matter is, both men are different in temperament and nature that it is unlikely that both men can be “good.” On one hand there is an owner of the Tower Restaurant, Red Sammy Butts who gets the ”compliment” that he is a good man after he allows a few men take gasoline. Here one can imply that the Grandmother’s definition of good entails somebody that is naïve and shows poor judgment. This person who has been taken advantage of is called “good” by the grandmother because he has allowed such things to pass. On the other hand is the Misfit who is called “good” by the grandmother herself. He is living a life of crime and “meanness” which by many peoples’ view would not entail any goodness, yet when the grandmother is threatened, she calls him “good.” In the end, the fact of the matter is, both men cannot be “good” to an equal degree and it is possible that both men can’t genuinely be seen by the Grandmother as “good” people at all. The point of the title is that a good man is hard to find because the definition of good is subjective in nature. The Grandmother shows through her personality that she is easily influenced by the situations and circumstances that work to change the meaning of her definition of “good.” A good man is hard to find because the Grandmother shows that she does not firmly establish or know what a good man is. Both the Misfit and Red Sammy Butts can’t be good in the same capacity to the Grandmother. Considering that the grandmother does not know what a good man is, in essence the title, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is fitting. If she were consistent in her definition of a “good man,” the title would be different.
Blog 3: Questions 2 & 5
Blog 3: Question 2
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,” intrigued me before I read the story. I thought of what themes the author, Flannery O’Connor, would use to interpret the title in the story. To be honest, I would have never guessed that the story I read was about a family with a witty grandmother going on vacation and ended up being shot and killed by a wanted fugitive.
After reading the story, I now understand what O’Connor meant when she gave it the title “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The title is mentioned throughout the story and with the intention to give the reader the understanding that no matter how much good someone does in this world, there is always someone else out there to balance it with evil. The first time the title is mentioned is when the family and the grandmother are stopped at a restaurant called The Tower just outside of a place called Timothy. The grandmother is making conversation with the owner, Red Sammy, and mentions that “People are certainly not nice like they used to be,” (O’Connor 1254). Red Sammy then begins to tell grandmother about how two men told Red Sammy that they worked at the mill. Red Sammy trusted them and he let the two men charge the gas they bought. However, because of the trust, Red Sammy was out the money it cost for the gas they took. Grandmother told Red Sammy that he was good man and that is why he allowed the men to charge the gas.
Next, as the family traveled on with their vacation, grandmother influenced the children to make a pit stop at an old house that she had once lived in. While the family was traveling on the road, they got into a horrible car accident. In the accident their car had flipped over twice, the mother and baby were tossed out the car, and the grandmother was tossed from the back to the front. The car needed to be towed, so the family waited for a car to pass by to ask for help. The car that passed by was being driven by a fugitive, The Misfit, and once he got out, grandmother recognized him. As The Misfit was talking with grandmother, his mannerism were that of someone who held respect for others as he was using words like: “no ma’am,” “yes ma’am,” and speaking with a kind and caring tone towards the mother, children, and especially the grandmother. As it turned out, even though The Misfit was telling his two men to take each family member back in the woods to shoot and kill them, the conversation he was making with the grandmother continued to possess kindness. Finally, when all the family was shot and killed, the grandmother was left with The Misfit to plea to him that he was a good man, “You’ve got good blood? I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady,” (O’Connor 1261). Even though The Misfit came from a good home, he still ended up a criminal. What intrigued me the most about the story, is when The Misfit explains to the grandmother why he calls himself The Misfit. Explaining that the punishment he has endured is much too harsh for the crimes he has committed. I believe The Misfit has an understanding that has been punished too severely for the crimes has committed, that somehow he has allotted him some leeway to commit more crimes.
The insight the title brings, is questions. Before I read the story, I thought up many different ways the story could go. Knowing that Flannery O’Connor was a well known author, I knew that there just had to be something intriguing about the story. That it was not just another love story about a man that has done wrong somehow and he tries to prove himself to be a “good man.” In my opinion, it is a mixture of both the intriguing title and the infamous author.
Blog 3: Question 5
5. How did/does Martha Stephens’ reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?
Martha Stevens influenced me by pointing out many comparisons that the family and the grandmother have when alive and then how they died. Stephens points out that O’Connor does not go into much detail about the family when they are alive and even when they are shot to death. O’Connor gives the reader enough information about the family that is needed, and even with that it revolves around how the grandmother is portrayed in the story. Stephens points out that the main event in the story is not the horrible act of the The Misfit and his two men killing the family in cold blood, but it is about the conversation that the grandmother has with The Misfit as they family is being killed.
I read the story before I read Martha Stephens’ “From The Question of Flannery O’Connor,” and I realized that I did not pay that close attention to the conversation between The Misfit and the grandmother as I was distracted by the family being killed without mercy. I was hoping the entire time I was reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” that the family was not being killed and that somehow the other two men were just trying to scare the grandmother. But my hope is quickly put to an end after realizing that the grandmother is also shot and killed.
Stephens helped me to further understand the meaning that O’Connor was trying to make by pointing out that the little things I missed were meant to have substantial meaning. For example, at the end of the story The Misfit makes the statement, “She would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life.” I did not take this into account of the significant meaning it truly had until Stephens commented on that line. I now have an understanding of The Misfit meant. While The Misfit had the gun on the grandmother, her demeanor had changed in a way that if she would have acted like that her entire life, as if someone had a gun to her head, she would have been a good woman. I do not necessarily agree with it but that is what I believe O’Connor had meant when writing the story.
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,” intrigued me before I read the story. I thought of what themes the author, Flannery O’Connor, would use to interpret the title in the story. To be honest, I would have never guessed that the story I read was about a family with a witty grandmother going on vacation and ended up being shot and killed by a wanted fugitive.
After reading the story, I now understand what O’Connor meant when she gave it the title “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The title is mentioned throughout the story and with the intention to give the reader the understanding that no matter how much good someone does in this world, there is always someone else out there to balance it with evil. The first time the title is mentioned is when the family and the grandmother are stopped at a restaurant called The Tower just outside of a place called Timothy. The grandmother is making conversation with the owner, Red Sammy, and mentions that “People are certainly not nice like they used to be,” (O’Connor 1254). Red Sammy then begins to tell grandmother about how two men told Red Sammy that they worked at the mill. Red Sammy trusted them and he let the two men charge the gas they bought. However, because of the trust, Red Sammy was out the money it cost for the gas they took. Grandmother told Red Sammy that he was good man and that is why he allowed the men to charge the gas.
Next, as the family traveled on with their vacation, grandmother influenced the children to make a pit stop at an old house that she had once lived in. While the family was traveling on the road, they got into a horrible car accident. In the accident their car had flipped over twice, the mother and baby were tossed out the car, and the grandmother was tossed from the back to the front. The car needed to be towed, so the family waited for a car to pass by to ask for help. The car that passed by was being driven by a fugitive, The Misfit, and once he got out, grandmother recognized him. As The Misfit was talking with grandmother, his mannerism were that of someone who held respect for others as he was using words like: “no ma’am,” “yes ma’am,” and speaking with a kind and caring tone towards the mother, children, and especially the grandmother. As it turned out, even though The Misfit was telling his two men to take each family member back in the woods to shoot and kill them, the conversation he was making with the grandmother continued to possess kindness. Finally, when all the family was shot and killed, the grandmother was left with The Misfit to plea to him that he was a good man, “You’ve got good blood? I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady,” (O’Connor 1261). Even though The Misfit came from a good home, he still ended up a criminal. What intrigued me the most about the story, is when The Misfit explains to the grandmother why he calls himself The Misfit. Explaining that the punishment he has endured is much too harsh for the crimes he has committed. I believe The Misfit has an understanding that has been punished too severely for the crimes has committed, that somehow he has allotted him some leeway to commit more crimes.
The insight the title brings, is questions. Before I read the story, I thought up many different ways the story could go. Knowing that Flannery O’Connor was a well known author, I knew that there just had to be something intriguing about the story. That it was not just another love story about a man that has done wrong somehow and he tries to prove himself to be a “good man.” In my opinion, it is a mixture of both the intriguing title and the infamous author.
Blog 3: Question 5
5. How did/does Martha Stephens’ reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?
Martha Stevens influenced me by pointing out many comparisons that the family and the grandmother have when alive and then how they died. Stephens points out that O’Connor does not go into much detail about the family when they are alive and even when they are shot to death. O’Connor gives the reader enough information about the family that is needed, and even with that it revolves around how the grandmother is portrayed in the story. Stephens points out that the main event in the story is not the horrible act of the The Misfit and his two men killing the family in cold blood, but it is about the conversation that the grandmother has with The Misfit as they family is being killed.
I read the story before I read Martha Stephens’ “From The Question of Flannery O’Connor,” and I realized that I did not pay that close attention to the conversation between The Misfit and the grandmother as I was distracted by the family being killed without mercy. I was hoping the entire time I was reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” that the family was not being killed and that somehow the other two men were just trying to scare the grandmother. But my hope is quickly put to an end after realizing that the grandmother is also shot and killed.
Stephens helped me to further understand the meaning that O’Connor was trying to make by pointing out that the little things I missed were meant to have substantial meaning. For example, at the end of the story The Misfit makes the statement, “She would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life.” I did not take this into account of the significant meaning it truly had until Stephens commented on that line. I now have an understanding of The Misfit meant. While The Misfit had the gun on the grandmother, her demeanor had changed in a way that if she would have acted like that her entire life, as if someone had a gun to her head, she would have been a good woman. I do not necessarily agree with it but that is what I believe O’Connor had meant when writing the story.
Friday, March 5, 2010
A Good Man is Hard to Find - Q1 & Q2
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
Question #1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.
- Implementation of the concept of the grotesque to literacy could be an interesting practice for both writers and readers as the practice itself will give a more dramatic sense to each moment of the scene in where the theme necessarily needs to come out in a more spectacular manner. What the grotesque impacts really hard on the readers is that it brings out “unusual” situation, which is not supposed to be seen or done in reality in terms of following human morality or consciousness, or may by major beliefs (especially Christianity in this case), and the unusual situation hits really hard on the readers as if intended to assert that it cannot even be actually unusual if the view of the majority is totally inverted to the other way, which could be immoral in the most cases. However, I believe that it is also important to look at the other side of such a violent side of human because it is always wide-open possible to happen regardless of the possibility that might oppress the purpose of using the grotesque. To me, implementation of the grotesque is like standing on the minority’s side rather than standing on the majority’s side to get an advantage for the argument to win. The truth is that everything that human could think of is potentially already ready to happen in reality whether it is good or bad. And then, justifying the definitions of the goodness and the badness would be another big argument subsequently.
Question #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?
- Honestly, I was very shocked at the end of the story, just like the most of readers, even though I intended not to be shocked in external appearance, and I definitely felt the power of implementation of the grotesque. To respond to the question, I would say that the grotesque elements present in the story affected the characters more sympathetic, in my words to more specifically say: more understandable. Whenever I read a story, I become such an objective person, who really does not stand on or support any character as to maintain the balance the importance of the roles of the characters. And what the grotesque impacted on me was about defining the possibility of things that should not happen according to following the majority’s hopes or beliefs. I’m not just saying that grotesque is an excellent method in literacy because I personally more prefer odd situations than ordinary atmosphere, but when I realized that the grandmother and her family’s comedic mood turned out to be like an horror, I felt sorry for her and her family, but honestly I did not feel any bad about what Misfit stated at the end, related to the argument of the belief’s of Christianity. As a Christian, I might feel some disagreement with his statement, but I also can understand what Misfit said because that is what he believes in. What I felt after I read the discussions about this story is that the standard of judgement cannot solely be one-sided upon a certain belief or any hope of majority. Being recognized not to be a good one by the majority cannot hide the fact that everybody can do the bad thing in any moment during their life time, even unintentionally. The only thing that I felt sorry about the character-Misfit is that he looks very passive to me even though all of his actions seemed to be very active, pretending to lead the story, due to his blaming upon his past, which makes him go backward to his miserable early life and maintain it though the present, even willing to continue to the future without realizing now and taking an action to find an agreement point for his sadness with the reality. This is what I comprehensively had in my mind after reading.
BLOG 3 ~ Question #1: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" / "Everyday Use"
Question #1- "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.
After I heard/read the lecture on O’Connor I think recognizing and understanding the concept of grotesque is important to understand and appreciate in texts because it allows readers to take a different perspective on the story than they normally would. It adds more symbolism to the literature, which allows the readers to analyze the context they are reading in more than one way. For example, in the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in the beginning of the story a description that really stands out and gave a strong sense of what the mother’s character was going to be like was, “a young woman in slacks, whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like rabbit’s ears.” Based on this description, I instantly thought of a small, cute, shy, and timid bunny rabbit. Rabbits are also known for being fertile. This set the tone for how the mother’s character was going to be portrayed throughout the story. A woman with three children that doesn’t seem to have much of a voice throughout the story.
Question # 1- "Everyday Use"
1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.
I think this story “Everyday Use” is best read through a feminist lens. I think this because the author relates the mother’s character in a way that makes her seem like she can do anything a man can. For example the mother says“I can kill and clean a hog mercilessly as a man ...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing ; I can eat pork liver cooked over fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog.” The mother’s character, Mama, is regarded with having power and being head of her household. “One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall.” Women weren’t usually viewed in this light by society. Also there is no mention of a father or husband and the story’s focus is on three main characters which are women.
1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.
After I heard/read the lecture on O’Connor I think recognizing and understanding the concept of grotesque is important to understand and appreciate in texts because it allows readers to take a different perspective on the story than they normally would. It adds more symbolism to the literature, which allows the readers to analyze the context they are reading in more than one way. For example, in the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” in the beginning of the story a description that really stands out and gave a strong sense of what the mother’s character was going to be like was, “a young woman in slacks, whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like rabbit’s ears.” Based on this description, I instantly thought of a small, cute, shy, and timid bunny rabbit. Rabbits are also known for being fertile. This set the tone for how the mother’s character was going to be portrayed throughout the story. A woman with three children that doesn’t seem to have much of a voice throughout the story.
Question # 1- "Everyday Use"
1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.
I think this story “Everyday Use” is best read through a feminist lens. I think this because the author relates the mother’s character in a way that makes her seem like she can do anything a man can. For example the mother says“I can kill and clean a hog mercilessly as a man ...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing ; I can eat pork liver cooked over fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog.” The mother’s character, Mama, is regarded with having power and being head of her household. “One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall.” Women weren’t usually viewed in this light by society. Also there is no mention of a father or husband and the story’s focus is on three main characters which are women.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Blog # 3: Questions 3-2 "A good man is hard to find"
I think this particular title "A good man is hard to find," can have many different themes depending on how you interpret the story. For example, it could be about a family that lacks love for the grandmother, or a family that goes on a trip that wound up having an accident which brings them to a bad situation in the end. I first read the title, and thought that the story would involve a woman who can't seem to find true love within a man, and she had no hope of faith in relationships. I started to read the story, and come to find out the title did relate to the story with a completely different meaning. I think the significance of the title is to "convert" people who have not yet accepted the Christian faith. I think this title does provide insight on the text because its about a journey for grace, and forgiveness in a world where the redemption the grandma is searching for proves to be hard to find. I think the grandma is out of touch with her own faith in Jesus, and realizes this in the end when she is next to dying along with her family. I think the story is trying to say that grace if for everyone. This particular quote relates to the title I thought "A good man is hard to find." Red Sammy said. "Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more" (1254). I think the title can bring about some misconceptions, but it's all about how you relate it to the story.
The grandma portrays herself to be self- serving, and strives for constant attention. She always wants to make the decision such as the trip, and she lives in a sheltered environment gaining knowledge by reading the news paper, and watching television. The only one who understands her is June Star. The way the grandma expresses herself makes her family less sympathetic towards her. O' Connor portrays non likable characters. The characters are ignorant people, shocked into self realization. By the way the story is showcased I find the elements alienating. For example "You're the Misfit! she said. "I recognized you at once!"
"Yes'm," the man said, smiling slightly as if he were pleased inspite of himself to be known," but it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me (1257). I think by saying this the grandma was responsible for the deaths of her family, and self. The charcters had no sympathy the misfit was a cold-blooded murder, and mental torture like the example in the above quote shows. The grandma said "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children"(1261). Then after she touched his shoulder the misfit shot her three times through the chest. I feel she triggered a emotion in him of christainanity that made him aggresive, and lash out in a harmful way.I think both of the characters can be seen as grotesque the grandma, and the misfit. The misfit represents the violence in present day life. The grandma represents the death of us all. I dont think the story helps render the characters at all. I think everyone in the story struggled to find their true self within a christain context.
The grandma portrays herself to be self- serving, and strives for constant attention. She always wants to make the decision such as the trip, and she lives in a sheltered environment gaining knowledge by reading the news paper, and watching television. The only one who understands her is June Star. The way the grandma expresses herself makes her family less sympathetic towards her. O' Connor portrays non likable characters. The characters are ignorant people, shocked into self realization. By the way the story is showcased I find the elements alienating. For example "You're the Misfit! she said. "I recognized you at once!"
"Yes'm," the man said, smiling slightly as if he were pleased inspite of himself to be known," but it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me (1257). I think by saying this the grandma was responsible for the deaths of her family, and self. The charcters had no sympathy the misfit was a cold-blooded murder, and mental torture like the example in the above quote shows. The grandma said "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children"(1261). Then after she touched his shoulder the misfit shot her three times through the chest. I feel she triggered a emotion in him of christainanity that made him aggresive, and lash out in a harmful way.I think both of the characters can be seen as grotesque the grandma, and the misfit. The misfit represents the violence in present day life. The grandma represents the death of us all. I dont think the story helps render the characters at all. I think everyone in the story struggled to find their true self within a christain context.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Discussion Questions, Week 6 (03/01 to 03/07)
Week Six Discussion Questions:
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.
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?
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?
4. Another major thematic element at work in much of O’Connor’s fiction is “grace”, the concept of undeserved forgiveness and/or acceptance. Consider her own statement about her characters: “Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them . . . I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace. Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will do the work. This idea, that reality is something to which we must be returned at considerable cost, is one which is seldom understood by the casual reader, but it is one which is implicit in the Christian view of the world” (1392-1393). Explain this statement in the context of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.
5. How did/does Martha Stevens’s reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?
6. Use the above question but base it on Stephen Bandy’s “From “One of My Babies: The Misfit and the Grandmother”.
“Everyday Use”
1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.
2. Discuss how Dee’s interpretation of the phrase “everyday use” illustrates her perspective on social position, power, and heritage.
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?
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
1. Having reviewed the lecture on O’Connor, explain why you think recognizing and understanding the concept of the grotesque is important to understand and more fully appreciate the texts.
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?
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?
4. Another major thematic element at work in much of O’Connor’s fiction is “grace”, the concept of undeserved forgiveness and/or acceptance. Consider her own statement about her characters: “Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them . . . I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace. Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will do the work. This idea, that reality is something to which we must be returned at considerable cost, is one which is seldom understood by the casual reader, but it is one which is implicit in the Christian view of the world” (1392-1393). Explain this statement in the context of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.
5. How did/does Martha Stevens’s reading of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (From The Question of Flannery O’Connor influence your own reading and understanding of the story? What did you make of/presume about the story before reading any criticism?
6. Use the above question but base it on Stephen Bandy’s “From “One of My Babies: The Misfit and the Grandmother”.
“Everyday Use”
1. Is this story best read through a feminist or a Marxist lens? What makes you think so? Be sure to use direct quotes to support your answer.
2. Discuss how Dee’s interpretation of the phrase “everyday use” illustrates her perspective on social position, power, and heritage.
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?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)