Flint, Thomas P. “On the Significance of Civil War References in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’” Renascence, vol. 70, no. 2, 2018, pp. 119-128.
In the article, Flint describes four references to the Civil war in the short story “A good Man Is Hard to Find” by O’Connor. The researcher argues that these mentions of the war and the locations, objects, and ideas connected to it enrich the story’s themes. In particular, Flint writes about the link between the Civil War and the final scene between the main characters – the grandmother and The Misfit (119). This article provides an insight into possible parallels in discussing punishment and guilt in war and the story.
Hooten, Jessica. “Individualism in O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The Explicator, vol. 66, no. 4, 2008, pp. 197-200.
The discussion of the story by Hooten focuses on the family and the main character’s individualistic view of life. Hooten argues that the main character’s individualism is the source of evil in the world and poses that O’Connor often creates self-righteous characters to highlight this problem (197). The author goes through several themes in the story, including the objectification of humans and the way people use each other. Then, Hooten comments on how such a view of humans as objects leads to the loss of value in community. Overall, this article provides an interesting view of the characters’ morality.
Link, Alex. “Means, Meaning, and Mediated Space in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find.’” Southern Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, 2007, pp. 125-138.
In this paper, Link focuses on O’Connor’s depiction of the American South and the use of space in the short story. The researcher considers the writer’s special rhetoric, meaning how she writes about and what she wants to say about the South, its culture, and its people. At the same time, Link introduces a discussion of industrial capitalism and religiousness (Catholicism) in terms of what spaces they occupy in this region and people’s minds (126). This article contains an examination of topics that are not directly related to the themes of the story.
Martin, Eric. “Flannery O’Connor & Strange Morality in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find.’” Medium, Web.
Martin investigates the representation of morality in the short story. Martin poses that the story contains two types of people – those who are aware of their badness and those who erroneously believe that they are good. The general discussion about morality is supplemented by examples from the story, each of which is mentioned to analyze the characters’ moral status. This analysis presents two types of morality – one’s presumed moral life and social standing.
Ochshorn, Kathleen G. “A Cloak of Grace: Contradictions in ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’” Studies in American Fiction, vol. 18, no. 1, 1990, pp. 113-117.
Ochshorn combines the analysis of the short story with the discussion of comments that O’Connor and readers made about it. The researcher talks about the interpretations of the main characters and the religious imagery, noting that O’Conner believed her writing to be misunderstood by readers (114). This discrepancy between the interpretations offered by the writer and the audience turns into the analysis of contradistinctions in the short story and the authors’ notes after the work was published.
Sarhan, Linda. “Symbolism and Foreshadowing Analysis of ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O’Connor.” Owlcation, Web.
In the article, Sarhan considers how O’Connor’s writing is full of symbolism and foreshadowing of the events and how the author uses irony to strengthen her points. Sarhan focuses on several examples and describes them in detail. For example, the author relates the grandmother’s hat to the character’s desire to be perceived as a lady, which, as the reader sees, does not align with her moral values. Sarhan’s description of some symbols in the story is an addition to the previous articles, as it provides examples for many themes present in the story.
Tsai, Hsiu-chih. “Violence as the Road to Transformation: O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’” NTU Studies in Language and Literature, vol. 13, 2004, pp. 59-98.
Tsai attempts to relate the use of violence in the short story and the characters’ transformation. The author connects the ideas of morality, faith, social behavior, and violence. Tsai argues that O’Connor’s characters go through several stages of transformation, and different types of violence, either perpetrated or experienced, change their lives and world views (65). This research article provides an analytical view of the text and uses several complex semiotic models to support this argument.
Works Cited
Flint, Thomas P. “On the Significance of Civil War References in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’” Renascence, vol. 70, no. 2, 2018, pp. 119-128.
Hooten, Jessica. “Individualism in O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find.” The Explicator, vol. 66, no. 4, 2008, pp. 197-200.
Link, Alex. “Means, Meaning, and Mediated Space in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find.’” Southern Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, 2007, pp. 125-138.
Martin, Eric. “Flannery O’Connor & Strange Morality in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find.’” Medium, Web.
Ochshorn, Kathleen G. “A Cloak of Grace: Contradictions in ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’” Studies in American Fiction, vol. 18, no. 1, 1990, pp. 113-117.
Sarhan, Linda. “Symbolism and Foreshadowing Analysis of ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O’Connor.” Owlcation, Web.
Tsai, Hsiu-chih. “Violence as the Road to Transformation: O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’” NTU Studies in Language and Literature, vol. 13, 2004, pp. 59-98.