A segment in a story in which the outcome, is completely different from what is expected, or is contradictory to the segment, expresses irony. Flannery O’Connor was a southern born author who often uses irony. O’Connor was an author born in Savannah, Georgia on March 25, 1925. At a young age, O’Connor began to develop a skillful interest and passion in drawing and writing. Around the age of 25, O’Connor began displaying early symptoms of lupus, and was forced to move back to Milledgeville. Upon her return to Milledgeville, O’Connor’s disease worsened, she continued to write stories influenced by her devout Roman Catholic beliefs. While O’Connor wrote many stories during this time, before passing away at age of 39, one of her most notable and famous stories was “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (Flannery O’Connor). Flannery O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” contain several examples of irony.
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a story about a family vacation gone horribly wrong. In the story the family is going on a vacation to Florida. The audience is introduced to the grandmother, a stubborn and senseless human being, who is more self-absorbed than she is selfless. On their way to Florida, the family decides to take a detour down a dirt road, where the family has a wreck and rolls into a ditch. Shortly after, while waiting on the side of the road, the family is greeted by none other than the Misfit, a serial killer, whom makes easy conversation with the family. Until later, when the grandmother foolishly announces aloud the gentleman’s identity, thus ultimately getting the whole family killed because of her unyielding stubbornness.
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In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” O’Connor includes an example of irony at the beginning of the story. O’Connor writes, “The Grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida”, but later mentions, “The next morning the grandmother was the first one in the car, ready to go” (O’Connor). This statement is ironic because for someone who does not want to go somewhere, the grandmother sure is hasty about getting ready to leave. Someone who does not want to go somewhere would typically act quite differently than the grandmother does. If people detests the idea of going somewhere, they would most certainly drag their feet, procrastinate, and complain. The will to get up and get dressed would be seriously dwindled. There would little to no enthusiasm or anticipation of the trip or journey ahead. Most of all, anybody who prefers to go elsewhere or do something else, would certainly not be the first person packed, in the car, and ready to go. Despite this expectation, the outcome is completely different with the grandmother being the first one ready.
A separate example of irony occurs when after the accident. Following the accident, O’Connor writes, “’But nobody’s killed,’ June Star said with disappointment…” (O’Connor). This statement expresses irony in two ways. The first, being that June Star uttered this with a disappointed tone. To begin, most people, after an accident, would generally check on the other individuals involved if they could. They certainly would not be upset if everyone was okay, other than willingly looking for people to be dead. Anybody involved in a crash would conceivably hope and pray that nobody was rendered injured or deceased from the accident. Also worth noting, is people would normally experience shock or fear after an accident, rather than disappointment. Although contrarily, June Star experiences none of the things that would normally be expected of someone after an accident. A second aspect of irony is that nobody the fact that June Star said no one was dead. However, at the end of the story, all of the family ends up dead, at the hands of the Misfit and his two men.
Additionally, the story includes another sliver of irony when describing the grandmothers appearance early in the story. The grandmother is described as being dressed so, “anyone seeing her dead on the highway,” would instantly know “that she was a lady” (O’Connor). The grandmother’s appearance noted early in the story is ironic in many different ways. The first reason being that, even though the quote referenced her being dead on the side of the road, the grandmother never once expected or planned to end up dead on the side of the road. The quote is also ironic in the way that, the grandmother never once possessed the ideal traits of “a lady” (O’Connor). Someone depicted as that of “a lady”, will typically possess the most noble of traits, selflessness, care, and kindness (O’Connor). Ladies generally are ones who care for others, that are civilized in their day-to-day nature, and embody that of a well-minded individual. However, the grandmother is the epitome of the complete opposite. She is obscenely stubborn and lets her pride cloud her judgement, she is careless and inconsiderate with her thoughts, and is lacking in practicing what she preaches, kindness. In the story, the grandmother tells the kids that people and children were more respectful to everything mentioning, “People did right then” (O’Connor). Nevertheless, she turns around and criticizes a black child seen while riding down the road stating, “Wouldn’t that make a picture, now” and followed it with a few racial remarks (O’Connor). “A lady” would set an example for others to follow instead of acting differently from the lesson they try to teach (O’Connor).
Irony is a key element in O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, and it is a great example of Flannery O’Connor’s ability to use her Roman Catholic religion to convey her meanings or beliefs through her writing. O’Connor believed society had cast away and forgotten its spiritual objective. She was known for portraying this belief through the characters, and their preposterous oddities (Flannery O’Connor). O’Connor believes that only when confronted by death, are societies truly knowledgeable of their spiritual aspirations, to serve the lord, and to love and care for all others. In the end of the story, this belief is conveyed when the grandmother changes her tune when talking to the Misfit. In O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the Misfit represents death and the grandmother represents all of society. It is then and only then, that the grandmother, representing society, was only truly knowledgeable of her spiritual aspirations when faced by the Misfit, representing death. This belief is proven when O’Connor writes, “’She would have been a good woman,’ the Misfit said, ’if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” (O’Connor). Flannery O’ Connor is a world-renowned author who was certainly no stranger to writing amazing stories, and providing an insight on how Roman Catholicism beliefs shaped her views on the world.
Works Cited:
- “Flannery O’Connor.” Novels for Students, Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2168100017/GLS?u=avl_cvcc&sid=GLS&xid=f439572b. Accessed 31 May 2018.
- O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Pegasus.cc.ucf.edu. 04 Feb 2018.
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