A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND


A Good Man is Hard to Find is a story of a Grandmother who has a vision of herself that is opposite of who she really is.  Her character views herself as a “lady.”  In her mind, a lady had a certain quality of dressing properly, of religiosity and of being respected by her family.  However, her actions and belief system contradicted the vision she had of herself.  All of her family were into their own activities, including her disrespectful grandchildren.   The family trip turned out to be a regretful experience when they encountered The Misfit, a ruthless killer devoid of any humanity.  In an effort to save herself from being murdered, the Grandmother tried to convince the Misfit he was a good man. The Misfit lived up to who he was and even said “I’m not a good man.”  The Grandmother’s superficial core values were totally nullified by the Misfits values.  She offered to give him money and even doubted the resurrection of Jesus.  In the end, she could not force the Misfit into acquiescing to her vision of himself as a good man.  He killed her, along with her ideals of being a lady.  The irony is that she couldn’t even live up to the title of GRANDmother.  She was the real misfit in her world.  Although the grandmother's actions were extremely diametrically opposed to how she saw herself, aspects of her character might be somewhat true of all of us.  We all have visions of who we are and ideals that we hold dearly.  Nevertheless, if we examined ourselves closely, we may find ourselves at times compromising our core values, causing a gap between our ideals and our reality.  Furthermore, like the grandmother, most of us are probably oblivious to the contradictions, or at least may not readily admit them because it would mean a denial of our true selves.

Comments

  1. Mark Brady English 40 - Short FictionApril 20, 2019 at 11:16 PM

    I think that this is a great short summary of this story. I enjoyed reading it. the grandmother did compromise on her beliefs. There is quite a bit of irony in this story which is hard to overlook.
    Truly, we are often blind to our inconsistencies of value, which we would do well to surround ourselves with people of the same values and some of different ones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. David GonzalezApril 26, 2019 at 9:54 PM

    That's a great observation. My experience has been that I can get along great with people who share my views. However, every once in a while I am attracted to someone who is the opposite and accept them without judgement or trying to change them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom LavazziJune 9, 2019 at 12:44 PM

    this is an interesting discussion beginning, but a bit off on a tangent---see how you can bring this back to the specific conflicts of the story...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everyday Use

 Everyday Use shows the cost and the value in embracing an old heritage and a new identity.  Both viewpoints can have benefits and both can be expensive to hold on to.  Mrs. Johnson and Maggie seemed to be content with the status quo and the simplicity of their lives.  Perhaps there is a comfortable, but distorted familiarity with the traditions they have grown accustomed to.  This mindset may keep them living in the bubble they are in and not further expand their horizons.  However, even though they are not educated, there is a homespun type of wisdom that is gained only through their generational ties.  Nevertheless, who is to dictate what makes one person feel whole and complete.  The inheritance of the family quilts and of the heritage finally brings a real smile to Maggie.      Wangero/Dee and Asalamalakim seem to represent the opposite end of this spectrum.  They do not want to be associated with their birth names becau...
Read more

Hills Like White Elephants

This week's story has a push and pull tug-of-war aspect between Jig and the man.  The story plays out on a train station where a couple is waiting for the train to their next destination.  The station is between two rails traveling in different directions.  This symbolism signals that the characters seem to be wanting to travel in two different life directions.  The girl seems to want to move towards a more stable family life and the man wants to continue in his adolescent like adventures.  It's evident they are of a significant age difference.  The man seems to be more worldly knowing the local language.  The girl seems to be at a disadvantage and somewhat and at his mercy.  It then becomes evident that these bigger themes play out around a pregnancy.  The man wants her to end it, and she feels if she does, their future will never be the same.  Either way, their future will be impacted.  The story's combatting ideologies are freedo...
Read more