Short Story Response: An Analysis of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Writers use literary elements, such as plot, setting, characters, mood, etc. as a foundation in their works. By engaging and guiding the reader with literary techniques: simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, irony, etc., the author invokes the reader to ask questions in order to discover the significance of the message. Through the understanding of the literary elements and techniques an author uses to create works of art in literature, the reader is able connect more deeply with the stories meaning.
Set in a southern family home, author Flannery O'Connor opens the story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” as the family prepares to leave on a road trip to Florida. The author introduces the family: the grandmother, her son Baily, his young wife, the baby, their son John Wesley, their daughter June Star, and the cat Patti-Sing. In describing …show more content…
The grandmother, being the first the car that morning, managed to pack her suitcase in such a way as to disguise the basket where the cat was a hidden stowaway. This event while alone is not detrimental, will eventually carry dreadful consequences. O’Conner describes the grandmother’s attire elaborately. Riding in the rear seat with the children, she is dressed prim and proper from head to toe, even donning a hat with flowers. In her mind, this is how a lady should dress, and she is a “Lady.” The old woman’s viewpoint of her and her family’s status seems to be prominent and through her storytelling, she has ingrained this perspective on the children. When the family stops for BBQ at dinnertime, writer Flannery O'Connor illustrates a scene where June Star puts on a little show and when asked if she would become the little girl of the restaurant owners wife, June replies snobbishly: “No I certainly wouldn’t…I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks”
Writers use literary elements, such as plot, setting, characters, mood, etc. as a foundation in their works. By engaging and guiding the reader with literary techniques: simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, irony, etc., the author invokes the reader to ask questions in order to discover the significance of the message. Through the understanding of the literary elements and techniques an author uses to create works of art in literature, the reader is able connect more deeply with the stories meaning.
Set in a southern family home, author Flannery O'Connor opens the story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” as the family prepares to leave on a road trip to Florida. The author introduces the family: the grandmother, her son Baily, his young wife, the baby, their son John Wesley, their daughter June Star, and the cat Patti-Sing. In describing …show more content…
The grandmother, being the first the car that morning, managed to pack her suitcase in such a way as to disguise the basket where the cat was a hidden stowaway. This event while alone is not detrimental, will eventually carry dreadful consequences. O’Conner describes the grandmother’s attire elaborately. Riding in the rear seat with the children, she is dressed prim and proper from head to toe, even donning a hat with flowers. In her mind, this is how a lady should dress, and she is a “Lady.” The old woman’s viewpoint of her and her family’s status seems to be prominent and through her storytelling, she has ingrained this perspective on the children. When the family stops for BBQ at dinnertime, writer Flannery O'Connor illustrates a scene where June Star puts on a little show and when asked if she would become the little girl of the restaurant owners wife, June replies snobbishly: “No I certainly wouldn’t…I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks”