A Good Man Is Hard To Find: Foreshadowing and Symbolism

Guichelle Kenfack

Ms. Phillips

AP Literature & Composition

18 November 2013

                               A Good Man Is Hard To Find: Foreshadowing and Symbolism

As unfortunate as the conclusion of Flannery O’Connor’s story of “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” may have appeared to be, some important clues and hints were left behind that lead to the tragedy. From the news article to the, family’s road trip, the stop at Red Sammy’s place and the plantation all these great hints that symbolized death could have been considered foreshadows that the author used to guide the readers. If only the readers paid that closed attention to how O’Connor tried not to predict the stories conclusion.  The conclusion of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is predicted by Flannery O’Connor through the use symbolism as a guide to foreshadow its dramatic ending.

        First, some readers while reading this short story for the first time might not have understood why the story concluded as coldly and deadly as it did. Well the only reason why that was so was because they must have missed the hints the author dissipated throughout the story to guide them. From the first sentence of the story O’Connor introduces the main character and protagonist of the story the grandmother. In the first sentence, O’Connor states “the grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.” (Para 1) This line is the first hint that sends a signal of something strange will occur; if the grandmother does not want to go to Florida, then something must be in Florida that she is trying to avoid. The second hint is the newspaper article that the grandmother tries to show her son Bailey which the author uses to introduce the antagonist “The Misfit.”  How rare is it to fear going somewhere and looking up about murderers on the loose, “here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people,” (Para 1) these are the words of a grandmother fearing her life, meaning death is approaching. The Newspaper article can also be considered a symbol of death as it reports what the Misfit did to others that maybe reported about the grandmother in the sequel of the story if there was to be one.

        Second, as the story continues other great hints follow as the author is very vivid about the attire of the family, even the mileage on the car. The third hint all readers should have noticed was the very elegant yet gloomy attire of the grandmother. What she wore was something that women in the South would wear to funerals or boring meetings. From the gloves to the hat and the dotted dress, who would wear such things in that hot Southern weather? The grandmother was hinting her own death from the beginning of the story. The fourth foreshadow occurs when the family hit the road and are heading to Florida; they pass a plantation and six graves “Look at the graveyard! That was the old family burying ground. That belonged to the plantation.” This line doesn’t really appeal to the reader as one of the hint at first only because it could be considered a memory that the grandmother had and was explaining to the children. And for the six graves, O’Connor added the numbers purposely to make the hint clear and precise so that the two children June Star, John Wesley, the parent Bailey and his wife, the little baby and the grandmother. The plantation is a symbol of the grave that specially built for the family, where their bodies would be buried once their bodies were discovered.

        Third, the Fifth hint seems to be one of the most obvious foreshadows, the stop or as I can relate to music the interlude of the story. This were O’Connor prepares to lead us into the unbelievably conclusion she had planned. The purpose of this hint was to break things down for the reader. O’Connor purposely makes the grandmother repeat her news report of “The Misfit”. The family stops at Red Sammy’s place were a conversation of the Misfit is brought up again. This Red Sammy starts the saying “these days you don’t know who to trust ain’t that the truth?” The he proceeds to say “two fellers came in here last week driving a Chrysler. It was an old beat-up but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me.” (Para 35) Then the grandmother brings up the Misfit trying to agree with Red Sam that the world can’t be trusted anymore as she says “did you read about that criminal The Misfit, that’s escaped.” This line or at least the entire passage foreshadows the conclusion that was written to both hints the end of story and to explain its purpose. Now if you haven’t noticed, the description of the beat-up Chrysler that Red Sammy describes is another hint and symbol. This car symbolizes danger as from two fellers who probably escaped from prison and are now trying to hide.  In passage 66 of the short story the car seems to reappear just after the family got into the accident and O’Connor still trying to hide the ending of the story decided to describe the car as a “big black battered hearse-like automobile.”

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