The Civil Rights Movement

Inspired by the powerful speeches of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and the tragic deaths of several African-American activists, the civil rights movement reached its height in 1955. Just a year earlier, the United States Supreme Court had declared legal segregation in schools unconstitutional in a historic ruling. In 1955, Rosa Parks of Montgomery, Alabama, made her courageous and well-known choice to remain seated on a bus rather than give up her seat to a white passenger. This singular act sparked a widespread bus boycott, elevating its organizer, Martin Luther King, Jr., to national prominence. Georgia, where O'Connor lived and set her stories, was rife with racial tension. The Grandmother's views on African Americans reflect the prevailing attitudes of many in the state at that time. When she tells June Star that "Little niggers in the country don't have things like we do," she is expressing a sentiment that was common among white society in 1955.

The Era of the Automobile

The 1950s experienced a dramatic increase in the number of cars on American roads, driven by post-World War II economic prosperity. In 1955, automobile sales in the United States surpassed 7 million, Chevrolet introduced the V-8 engine, and President Eisenhower proposed a 10-year, $101 billion plan to Congress for the creation of a national highway system. Family road trips, like the one depicted in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," became a popular American pastime as people embraced the freedom and independence that cars provided. Although New York's Long Island Expressway opened in 1955, it struggled to manage the heavy traffic. As American society grew more mobile and independent, cultural shifts followed. The 1950s saw the rise of drive-in restaurants and movie theaters, as well as roadside motels and suburban shopping centers. In O'Connor's fiction, cars serve as both a realistic element and a symbol of the changing American self-perception and sense of place.

The Silver Screen, the Small Screen, and Rock 'n' Roll

American popular culture underwent significant transformations during the 1950s. Rising affluence allowed more families to purchase television sets, making TV a central source of family entertainment. Shows like Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, and Father Knows Best depicted an idealized and somewhat distorted view of American life. Westerns, featuring tales of heroes and villains like The Lone Ranger, reinforced the nation's belief that crime does not pay.

Many iconic movies and musicals also premiered in the 1950s, including Oklahoma!, Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Rebel Without a Cause, and Blackboard Jungle. These films often hinted at underlying issues within American society. Movies frequently portrayed a darker side of American life, addressing the social unrest that would erupt in the following decade.

A new genre of music, rock 'n' roll, emerged in the mid-1950s. Artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Bill Haley became immensely popular, resonating with young audiences and often singing about topics relevant to them. These sweeping changes in various aspects of American life lead the Grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" to feel nostalgic for a bygone era.

Flannery O'Connor was profoundly concerned with the values and direction of the youth during her era. She felt that Christ was no longer a significant priority for her generation. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" exemplifies O'Connor's worry about the priorities and values of the 1940s.

To portray her concerns, O'Connor creates broad caricatures of the family members and the Misfit in her stories. The children show no remorse; they are persistently stubborn and rude, lacking any real insight. The young girl, June Star, watches as her father and brother are taken into the woods. She hears two gunshots and sees the young man who led them away return, holding her father's shirt. Even after witnessing this, when the same young man tries to lead her and her mother away, June Star retorts: "I don't want to hold hands with him . . . He reminds me of a pig." The young man does not retaliate; instead, he feels ashamed by her harsh words, blushing and laughing in response. A few minutes later, he kills June Star, delivering a retribution that is grossly disproportionate to any moral wrong she may have committed through her rudeness.

O'Connor never matches the punishment to the crime—she exaggerates the consequences in a manner many readers find cruel and inappropriate. However, she is not trivializing death but making a bold statement about life.

Death is a great equalizer, but it also reveals a person's true nature. When confronted with the ultimate stressor—death—how does each character react? The response to this question reveals much about their character in life. The children act without understanding how their words and actions impact others; the mother faces it quietly; the father shows a semblance of strength but ultimately does nothing to save himself or his family. Only the grandmother confronts her death with a fierce grip on life; she understands life's value and, in doing so, has a moment of realization about the inherent redemptive potential in all life. In her final moments, she perceives the Misfit as her child, adopting a Jesus-like role as a forgiver of sins. Aware that he intends to kill her, she still turns to him and embraces him as one of her own. Age bestows the grace of forgiveness, even as youth fails to return it, until it is too late. O'Connor's exaggerated depiction of grace in action underscores a desire to teach younger generations the importance of respect and tradition amidst changing times.

At the story's conclusion, a crucial question arises: could anything have saved the family once they encountered the Misfit? Was it a matter of saying or doing the right thing to convince him not to kill them? Initially, O'Connor seems to suggest that the answer is no, that evil remains unchangeable in someone determined to do harm. While his accomplices are killing the rest of the family, the Misfit engages in a debate with the grandmother about the nature of evil. After she hears a scream and a shot, signaling that her daughter-in-law and grandchildren are being murdered, she begs the Misfit, "you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give you all the money I've got!" He replies, "Lady, . . . there never was a body that give the undertaker a tip," implying that it was never in question that he would kill them all to leave no witnesses. Yet, after this exchange, the Misfit doesn't immediately kill the grandmother, leaving the reader in suspense about her fate. Is he hesitating? Will he kill her? Will he show her mercy?

In a peculiar and remarkably unique twist of fate, he manages to do both. He conveys some regret for the wicked paths his life has taken, attributing it to his inability to comprehend God or perceive Him in person. When the Grandmother detects a glimmer of salvation in his expressed remorse, she reaches out to him. Startled by her touch, the Misfit recoils and instinctively shoots her, killing her instantly. He then looks at her, noticing her smile even in death, and experiences a profound understanding of her life. Removing his glasses, his eyes appear "defenseless-looking." With his guard down, he speaks kindly of the grandmother: '"She would have been a good woman,' The Misfit said, 'if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.'" In his unpolished way of speaking, he articulates a universal truth: that in the face of fear, people often reveal their true nature. In suffering, we all are presented with a chance for redemption.

While O’Connor died before the women’s movement of the 1960’s gained much momentum and never chose to identify herself openly with feminist concerns, her work itself is important to women’s literature for several reasons. In her depiction of strong, independent female characters with as much of a chance at redemption as their male counterparts, O’Connor was responsible for presenting a new, more realistic picture of white Southern women. As Alice Walker has written, “when she set her pen to them not a whiff of magnolia hovered in the air.” Walker was shocked and delighted at the humanity of O’Connor’s characters, “who are miserable, ugly, narrow-minded, atheistic, and of intense racial smugness and arrogance.”

Being a woman affected the way in which O’Connor was received during her time, particularly because the violence and general nastiness of her characters were often not admired coming from a “lady writer.” Even those critics who praised her sometimes did so in carefully couched language. Evelyn Waugh once said of O’Connor’s writing, “If this is the unaided work of a young lady it is a remarkable product.” O’Connor was the first woman to be compared to the great male Southern writer William Faulkner. By taking her art seriously, and working hard during her tragically short life to achieve the status of a great American writer, O’Connor set a standard and paved the way for women writers to come.

1955: Racial tensions escalate as the Civil Rights Movement initiates significant changes in American society. Rosa Parks famously refuses to sit at the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Tragically, two African-American leaders, Lamar D. Smith and George W. Lee, are murdered.

1996: Numerous African-American churches, primarily in the South, are set ablaze during the spring and summer. While the exact causes of some fires remain unknown, many are suspected to be cases of arson.

1950: Crime statistics indicate that around 7,000 murders occurred in the United States over the year.

1994: Crime data shows that approximately 23,305 murders were recorded during the year, with 15,456 of these involving firearms.

1955: The U.S. Census Bureau reports a population increase of 2.8 million, marking the largest annual growth on record. Individuals born between 1945 and 1960 earn the nickname "The Baby Boomers."

1990s: As the first Baby Boomers reach the age of 50, the United States seeks solutions to ensure adequate health care and social security for this large aging population.