Journal Response "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

"There was a secret panel in this house," she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were ... "Hey" John Wesley said. "Let's go see it! we'll find it! We'll poke all the woodwork and find it!" (O'Connor 9).

This quotation captures sentiments that society holds dear. Sentiments such as, the use of storytelling to pass on ideas, the curiosity and innocence of children, and the enthusiasm for finding the facts in a mystery. The grandmother uses storytelling to make her son Bailey and his children interested, whether they wish to be or not in her sons' case, in a plantation house she had seen as a girl. The little bit of mystery she adds by telling about the secret panel is what sparks the curiosity of the children, even though the grandmother knows that the story is false. This spark leads to several moments of hysteria inside the family car, but the family eventually goes to see the house because it was what the children wanted to do, what the grandmother helped them think they wanted to do. The curiosity of the children can be seen through the excitement in just the few words said by John Wesley, the instant I want to know more and I want to know more now effect of learning that there is something special and secret about a new place, person, or object! This curiosity is used in many different types of literature both fiction and non-fiction and all the genres that encompasses. The most easily recognized application of the curiosity of people is in crime and suspense writing. The curiosity is what draws in the reader to find the facts that the author shows them, the mystery and the want to learn more keeps the characters of the literature alive and interesting in the readers eyes. This spark of curiosity thrown in by O'Connor keeps the readers interest, the little moment of a rush to find out what happens next. The best part of this quotation for me is that when I read it I can hear exactly how it is being said, in deliberate and mischievous tones and in exuberant shouts that make the situation all the more real and tangible.

~ Samantha Smiley