The grandmother

Outer characterization

The grandmother is the main character in the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. She remains unnamed throughout the story, referred to only as “the grandmother”. She is an “old lady” (l. 46) who lives with “her only boy” (l. 3), Bailey, and his family. She has three grandchildren – John Wesley, June Star, and an unnamed baby – and a cat, Pitty Sing. Although the grandmother lives in Atlanta, Georgia, she has relatives in east Tennessee (l. 2) and has apparently spent time there in her youth. The grandmother also considers herself “a lady” (l. 54) and wants others to view her the same, no matter the circumstances. The way she is dressed for their trip to Florida highlights this:

…the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady. (ll. 49-54)

Inner characterization

The grandmother is an important character in the short story. Her actions are highly significant, as she is indirectly responsible for her own death and the death of the rest of her fami...