Literary Analysis - 1773 Words

A Literary Analysis on Flanner O Connor s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Written by ShaLynn M. Andrews Flannery O Connor s short story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is about a Georgia family on their way to Florida for a vacation and the day ending in disaster and murder. The story opens with the grandmother, also being the main character, trying to convince her son, Bailey, not to go to Florida; she had just read an article about a recently escaped convict, the Misfit, who was supposedly heading to Florida. The next morning, the family, including the grandmother, her son, her son s wife, their baby and two kids, along with the grandmother’s cat, leave for the vacation. Shortly into the story, the family stops for something to eat at†¦show more content†¦The grandmother, through her moment of religious grace, has seen the humanity of the Misfit and calls him â€Å"one of her babies†. According to an article by Jessica Hooten, the grandmother exemplifies â€Å"self-focus and self-righteousness [attitude]; she initiates every problem in the story from the first sentence: The grandmother didn t want to go to Florida (O Connor, 264).† Disregarding the desires of her family, the grandmother prioritizes her desire to stay home. Many literary critics see the grandmother as being a hypocritical, judgmental, manipulative, prideful instigator. In the novel, the grandmother â€Å"knew that Bailey [her son] would not be willing to lose any time looking at an old house, but the more she talked about it, the more she wanted to see it once again and find out if the little twin arbors were still standing.†There was a secret panel in this house,† she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were..† (O Connor, 268). Using this lie to excite and coax the children, she knew it would annoy Bailey enough to finally give in and the grandmother would get what she wants. In a recent article, Stanley Renner wrote that the view of the grandmother s moment of ascension â€Å"seems to demand more sympathy than the story grants her. The author has characterized the grandmother so that is is virtually impossible to say anything unquestionably good about her. One cannot even fall back on the excuse that she means well, since most of what sheShow MoreRelatedEssay on Literary Analysis on Revelation794 Words   |  4 Pages Literary Analysis â€Å"Revelation† Flannery O’Connor short story entitled â€Å"Revelation† was swayed by her personal upbringing in the South. She lived in the time where people from the South were very intolerant and narrow-minded towards people who had a different lifestyle and who were of a different race. Because Southerners believed people who did not live up to their wealth or status were inferior, it offered O’Connor the exact descriptions she wanted for the characters in this story. The mainRead MoreLiterary Analysis : An Inspector Calls 2046 Words   |  9 Pagescriticism: examines literature in the cultural, economic and political context in which it is written or received,† exploring the relationships between the artist and society. Sometimes it examines the artist’s society to better understand the author’s literary works; other times, it may examine the representation of such societal elements within the literature itself (Social Criticism) An example of this would be how in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck goes against what society wantsRead MoreThe Joseph Narrative: Literary Analysis and the Role of God5196 Words   |  21 PagesThe Joseph Narrative: Literary Analysis and the Role of God The Joseph narrative can be found in the book of Genesis chapters 37-50. It is slightly interrupted â€Å"by the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen. 38) and by the so-called Blessing of Jacob (Gen. 49:1-28)† (Skinner, 438). The story of Joseph is seen as unique because it has different characteristics than its counterparts in Genesis. Other writings in Genesis seem to be short, brief incidents, about family and tribal affairs. The Joseph narrativeRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings1264 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis: A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children† which was written in 1955 by Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez has been described by many as difficult to understand and hard to follow. Faulkner describes it as having a â€Å"charming (but unsettling) effect† (1) on readers. Raney says that the story leaves most readers not fully understanding it because it uses a â€Å"subtler irony† (108) that â€Å"whispers† (108) to them and that itRead MoreAnalytical analysis and comparism of an everyday text with a literary text3840 Words   |  16 Pagesï » ¿Choose one every day and one literary text. Using at least two analytical techniques from E301, analyze and compare your two texts in terms of their creativity and literariness, drawing on material from both parts of the module. In this paper I will analyze and compare a literary text and an everyday text, in terms of their creativity and literariness. I chose Philip Larkin’s (1964) poem, ‘Self’s the man’ (see Appendix, Text 1), as the literary text for analysis because it is not only smooth andRead MoreLiterary Analysis Collection : Themes, Characters, Conflict, And Setting2046 Words   |  9 PagesLiterary Analysis Collection 1 Theme, characters, conflict, and setting are literary terms that are essential to any story you may read. Each literary term is important to the development of the plot, or the order of events in a story. The lesson or moral that you take away from the story is the theme. The time and place in which the story happens is the setting. The conflict is the issue or the main problem in a story. The characters are just the people who are involved in the conflict. All fourRead MoreA Streetcar Named Desire, Literary Analysis Essay733 Words   |  3 PagesStreetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams exemplifies the theme of a struggle to attain happiness. The play not only portrays this theme in its characters and setting, but through the literary devices of Foil, Imagery, and Intertextuality. Williams took great care in applying each of these literary device techniques to the theme as he presents an intriguing contrast between Blanche and Stanley, vivid images both animalistic and b roken, and imploring the use of the Odyssey to further deepenRead MoreLiterary Analysis and Comparison of A Persistent Woman And Uncle Ernest495 Words   |  2 PagesLiterary Analysis and Comparison of A Persistent Woman And Uncle Ernest I have chosen to compare and analyse the openings of A persistent woman and Uncle Ernest because the both authors have used similar literary techniques to try and make the reader read on but it in very different ways. For example both extracts describe the main characters (Uncle Ernest and Temple) but in Uncle Ernest this is very explicit, describing his appearance in great detail. Just fromRead More Literary Analysis of ?The Grandfather? by Gary Soto Essay examples846 Words   |  4 PagesMarwski, Daniel G., Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism vol. 80. Detroit : Gale Research Co., 1987. 275. Meire, Matt S. Mexican American Biographies: A Historical Dictionary 1836-1987. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. 216. Soto, Gary and Ernest Trejo. Interview. â€Å"Revista Chicano-Riqueà ±a.† 1982. Contemporary Literary Criticism vol. 80. Ed. Daniel G. Marwski. Detroit : Gale Research Co., 1987. 278-281. Stine, Jean C. and Daniel G. Marwski., Ed. Contemortry Literary Criticism vol. 32. Detroit: GaleRead MoreReader, Readability And Relativity In The Criticism Of Propp, Barthes, And Fish Literary Analysis1095 Words   |  5 Pagescanonical quality, what meaning can be derived from that text, and who exactly makes these types of decisions? Welcome to the world of literary criticism, where the approach to the text and the level of reader inclusion varies based upon the school a critic identifies with in his endeavor and/or the individual reader may happen to take most interest in the act of literary analysis. While the Socratic-like formalistic approach of Vladimir Propp, the lavish laymen s poetic deconstruction of Roland Barthes