A Good Man is Hard to Find

In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the theme of religion, sin, and repentance plays a perdominant role. It is the classic good versus evil with a twist. The twist being two opposite being linked together, while having two different view points on life. O'Conner brings God's grace into the light out of the dark and eerie situations at the end of the story. The Grandmother is the revised Southern Bell in the story who is almost unable to comprehend her own flaws. The grandmother has a very distinctive personality and demeanor. She feels as if she should share her thoughts and views with everyone. She also believes that her feelings are superiour and believes that she is always right. In several accounts the grandmother is portrayed as only having her self interest in mind. The grandmother cares about the way she percieved by society. She also talks about how society as a whole has lost some of its good nature, and respect for themselves and others. She is seen as a good Christian with a faith in Christ, but she seemingly turns away from her own beliefs. She begs the Misfit to pray with her but she appears to have given up on faith when she mumbles about Jesus possibly not rising from the dead. At the end of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the grandmother has a moment of clarity and realizes that the Misfit is a lost soul. She, the grandmother, is not a superior to him but rather an equal. The Misfit is the reason for the change in the grandmothers perception of life. He is in a sense a flawed prophet, for the fact that he changed someones view on life in a better way, but did it in a harmful nature. I believe that he is the insane character in this story, however his voice in the story is nonthreatening and his emotions appear to be stable. His words were not harsh but his actions were, and with these actions came no remorse. Within each person there is a flicker of goodness, but within some there is a darkness that overwhelms that light.