Structure

Title

The title of Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” presents a common saying which readers might already be familiar with. Although the saying is usually used in connection with women not being able to find a suitable romantic partner, in the story it has a broader meaning, conveying the message that it is difficult to find an honest and trustworthy person. In the short story, the saying is used by one of the characters, Red Sammy, who claims that “A good man is hard to find” (l. 171) and that “Everything is getting terrible” (l. 172). The words could create certain expectations in the readers, and prepare them for the ending of the story, where Sammy’s words will be proven correct.

The phrase “a good man” is used often in the text. The grandmother first tells Sammy that he is a good man (l. 158), when he mentions an instance when two customers cheated him because he trusted them too much (l. 156). The grandmother also tells the Misfit repeatedly that he is “a good man” (l. 323) and that he does not look “a bit like common blood” (l. 324), in an attempt to convince him not to shoot her. The Misfit denies this, and his actions at the end will prove her wrong. Ironically, the Misfit also refers to the grandmother using similar words, saying: “ ‘She would of been a good woman….if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.’ ” (ll. 497-498). This seems to suggest that the grandmother herself was not exactly good and that her goodness was only brought to light the moment she came face to face with her own mortality and with the evil the Misfit was capable of.

In many ways, the title could also refer to Bailey. He is a passive character, who gives in to the demands of his mother and his children an...