dotted outline of a black cat sitting within a basket in front of an older woman wearing a sundress

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

by Flannery O’Connor

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Discussion Topic

Symbols and references to death in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find."

Summary:

In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," symbols and references to death include the family's car accident, the grandmother's attire resembling funeral clothes, and the Misfit's presence as an embodiment of death. These elements foreshadow the story's tragic end and highlight themes of mortality and the inevitability of death.

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What are some symbols in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"?

I would argue that the first symbol we see in this story is the grandmother's cat, which is a symbol of her rebellion against the family's plans. The family is heading to Florida on vacation, and the grandmother failed to convince them to change their plans to accommodate her wish to visit relatives in Tennessee. The cat, surreptitiously packed, symbolizes the grandmother's dissatisfaction.

The second symbol that comes to mind is Grandmother's hat, which represents her selfishness and vanity. Being seen as a lady is the only thing that appears to matter to her, and when the brim of her hat breaks during the car accident—which she caused by having her cat in the car without anyone knowing—her perception of herself is forced to change.

Another classic symbol is the vehicle in which the Misfit arrives. It is described as dark, dilapidated, and reminiscent of a hearse, and it is...

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clear that the vehicle is both a harbinger and a symbol of death. It is also arguable that death refers not only to the death of the Misfit's immediate victims, but also to the death of the way of life that Grandmother had enjoyed in the Old South. The car is not only a symbol, but also an example offoreshadowing, as it hints of the deaths that are to follow.

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In "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," the two children are called John Wesley and June Star. They are both obnoxious, self-centered, and manipulative, unaware of what is going on around them and accustomed to screaming at their parents to get their own way.

The most obvious symbolism for the names of these two children is ironic. John Wesley was a famous eighteenth-century religious leader known for preaching the doctrine of Christian perfection, and described as the "best-loved man in England." June Star suggests summer warmth and astral brightness and purity.

However, there is another way of reading the symbolism in these names which is more literal and straightforward. John Wesley Hardin was a notorious outlaw in the West during the late nineteenth century. He killed his first man at the age of fifteen and claimed to have shot over forty during his lifetime. One of the few female outlaws of the same period was a woman called Belle Starr. These figures are more obviously relevant to the children in the story than symbols of purity and perfection.

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