Reading Response 09/06/2011

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" O'Connor

"She would have been a good woman,' the Misfit said,'if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." (O'Connor 22)

Throughout the story I couldn’t help but try to figure out what the purpose of the story was or what the ending will mean. The statement about made by the Misfit certainly gave me a clue of what summarized the moral of the story and the hypocritical behavior of the grandmother.  It’s about values and realization. From the beginning the grandmother insisted on doing things her way or going to Tennessee rather than Florida to satisfy her needs. Although the grandchildren gave negative attitude towards the grandmother, nobody took their time to explain how they felt regarding some of the things the grandmother wanted to do.  Her behavior was selfish and hypocritical, but it seemed as though she did not know any better. Likewise, the rude and disrespectful behavior of the children complimented the story as they made comments without any consequences, “she wouldn’t stay at home for a million bucks.” (O’Connor 2) There was nobody to guide neither the grandmother nor the children in the right direction and you sometimes do not realize this until it’s too late. 

I love the ending of the story because it has the Misfit, who is supposed to be portrayed as a bad character in the story hinting the moral of the story by saying that the grandmother could have been a good woman if there was someone to help her be one. The title however still leaves me very puzzled, as I cannot find a connection to the moral of the story. It makes me think that the noun “man” is used in the title for mankind and that it’s difficult to find them because we are sometimes blinded by the things we see or hear from them rather than helping them understand good and bad, right and wrong.