Literary Analysis: A Good Man is Hard to Find

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Literary Analysis
In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find," the grandmother is portrayed as a morally superior individual. Because she is a woman, she believes that she has more virtues and can pass judgment to other people. According to her, all her actions are guided by her conscience, which would never allow him or her to take certain actions. As the story develops, the grandmother tries to reach out and talk to the Misfit. She shows him, love after discovering the true faith. As we see the story's progress, we can attest that the grandmother must have discovered something that she lacked. In the beginning, we see her as a selfish individual who is very occupied by her desires and self-righteousness (O’Connor). However, in the end, the extraordinary circumstances make her understand the meaning of true grace. After identifying the Misfit as one of her kind, she acknowledges that she is also evil, and no one is an exception. Each individual must deal with sinful and selfish desires. Therefore, when we consider the development through the story, we can say that the grandmother achieved a state of grace.
The story A Good Man is Hard to Find, indeed, is one of grace. We can see that there is grace for all sinners, including charlatans and thieves. The grandmother is an individual who is very selfish and manipulative. There is a clear presentation of the behavior of each character. The audience can clearly see through the hypocrisy of the grandmother. While the Misfit is an evil person, the grandmother's actions are based on a selfish motive to overpower others and look down on them. The events throughout the story are centered on Christian theology. Christians believe salvation is granted to every person by grace alone. This means that God is an all-powerful ruler who can control every desire and make the worst sinners go to heaven. The grandmother is a character who undergoes an extensive transformation. Evidently, the grandchildren are used as pawns, and they annoy the parents. Having mastered the art of manipulation, the grandmother never spoke any truth (O’Connor 730).
While the Misfit needed grace for his misdeeds, the grandmother needed grace more because of his hypocrisy. She had tactics to deflate the concerns of other people to achieve her own ends. She criticizes the children's mother for not going to a place that would have allowed the children to be free. Moreover, she says that the face of the mother is like a cabbage. This is abuse, as well as sinning against God. In the Bible, we are taught that every person is created in the image of God. This means that no one should judge or ridicule another person because of their appearance. However, the grandmother disregards this noble teaching and abuses the mother. While she exercises a lack of grace, she complains that people lack virtues in the contemporary world. This is the hi...