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Slide Notes
Today I will be analyzing Flannery O' Conner's story titled, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." This story was written in 1953. The author, Flannery O' Conner has a deep Catholic religious background, so it is fitting that this story fights with concepts such as right and wrong and good and evil. Both of these are opposites that act as counter balances for each other.
The story is based off of what O' Conner knew growing up. She was raised in the south in Savannah, Georgia. She took this setting and added it to her own stories. She was a master at the genre known as Southern Gothic Literature. This genre is known for mixing gore and horror with a southern landscape.
The story is based off of what O' Conner knew growing up. She was raised in the south in Savannah, Georgia. She took this setting and added it to her own stories. She was a master at the genre known as Southern Gothic Literature. This genre is known for mixing gore and horror with a southern landscape.
Criticism in, "A Good Man is Hard to Find."
Published on Jan 30, 2019
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A Good Man is Still Hard to Find
Sarah Litchney
Today I will be analyzing Flannery O' Conner's story titled, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." This story was written in 1953. The author, Flannery O' Conner has a deep Catholic religious background, so it is fitting that this story fights with concepts such as right and wrong and good and evil. Both of these are opposites that act as counter balances for each other.
The story is based off of what O' Conner knew growing up. She was raised in the south in Savannah, Georgia. She took this setting and added it to her own stories. She was a master at the genre known as Southern Gothic Literature. This genre is known for mixing gore and horror with a southern landscape.
The story is based off of what O' Conner knew growing up. She was raised in the south in Savannah, Georgia. She took this setting and added it to her own stories. She was a master at the genre known as Southern Gothic Literature. This genre is known for mixing gore and horror with a southern landscape.
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A Good Man is Hard to Find
- The story describes a family road trip where the family has a car accident and runs into the criminal known as the Misfit.
When Flannery O' Conner talked about southern literature she declared, '“is not something that can become a cliché. It is not made from the mean average or the typical but from the hidden and often the most extreme"' (Link 125). These contrasting perspectives in Southern Gothic Literature is what gives it its identity. The past experiences of the south in the U.S were made up of the civil war, slavery, and plantations. This gives it a dark past that contrast with some of the general attitudes associated with the south of friendly people, hospitality, and great food.
This is why the south is a great place to set such a story of extremes. The family is going on an average road trip, but they confront something bad in the middle of this road trip and now something that appeared average, turns terrifying in just a few pages.
This is why the south is a great place to set such a story of extremes. The family is going on an average road trip, but they confront something bad in the middle of this road trip and now something that appeared average, turns terrifying in just a few pages.
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Literary Theory
- "Literary theory is a description of the underlying principles, one might say the tools, by which we attempt to understand literature," (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
- Studying literary theory helps find new meanings in the text and various concepts that reflect history, psychology, Marxism, feminism, and other interdiscipline studies.
Literary theory is still imperative to studying literature because it makes a person aware of their own biases, and it can help enhance the reading of literature. It is hard to read any work without thinking about what significance it has, and if it is based off of the authors experience. When a person does this, they are using concepts of literary theory without diving too much in the depths of what influences their thought process.
As, "Literary Theory: The Basics states", "As I have already noted, most literary critics would claim that all interpretation is governed by certain assumptions and that interpretation can seem theory-free only if we are unaware of those assumptions – if we are, in effect, blind to what we are doing," (Bertens 3). This means that many literary theories are used by the general population when they are reading, but they are unaware of what theory they are using to analyze literature.
As, "Literary Theory: The Basics states", "As I have already noted, most literary critics would claim that all interpretation is governed by certain assumptions and that interpretation can seem theory-free only if we are unaware of those assumptions – if we are, in effect, blind to what we are doing," (Bertens 3). This means that many literary theories are used by the general population when they are reading, but they are unaware of what theory they are using to analyze literature.
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New Historicism and Psychoanalytic Criticism
These are two important theories that will aid in a better understanding of, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Both these theories deal with delving deeper into the characters. As stated previously, literary criticism can delve into multiple categories and classifications. While both of these theories are on opposite spectrums, they aid in the classification of the characters of the story and the background of the events that happen. While most literary theories are concerned with the many elements that make up a story, Psychoanalytic Criticism is also concerned with the background of the author. Therefore, this is why we went over Flannery O'Conner's upbringing in the introduction slides.
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Psychoanalytic Criticism
- Made popular by Sigmund Freud
- Attempts to delve into literature by examining past repression of events.
- Can apply both to the literature and the author
- Is made of several theories that could be used to analyze a work of literature
Psychoanalytic Criticism is a vast topic to cover because Sigmund Freud had many theories about the unconscious influencing the conscious. While there are many critics of his concepts, he helped establish some basic theories that help in the examination of the literary text. One of the questions suggested for analyzing a work in the psychoanalytic process is "How can characters' behavior, narrative events, and/or images be explained in terms of psychoanalytic concepts of any kind (for example, fear or fascination with death, sexuality - which includes love and romance as well as sexual behavior - as a primary indicator of psychological identity or the operations of ego-id-superego)?" (Psychoanalytic Criticism).
The Psychoanalytic perspective can look at the character's past and the own author's issues. Therefore, there is a lot to cover in one theory. The person using this theory to analyze a project can pick from various Freud concepts and apply it to the characters or the author. Some of Freud's popular concepts were the ego, superego, and the id. All three of these parts are said to develop into one human personality. The characters in this story are definitely influenced by their past.
The Psychoanalytic perspective can look at the character's past and the own author's issues. Therefore, there is a lot to cover in one theory. The person using this theory to analyze a project can pick from various Freud concepts and apply it to the characters or the author. Some of Freud's popular concepts were the ego, superego, and the id. All three of these parts are said to develop into one human personality. The characters in this story are definitely influenced by their past.
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New Historicism
- It is focused on the time period of a written piece.
- It is related to cultural studies because it can involve the inclusion of culture in a historical context
- It can also take the author's background as one factor of the analysis.
New Historicism is an attempt to state that a work of literature is not separate from the time period it was written in. As it is stated in, "Literary Theory: The Basics, "The new historicism and cultural materialism reject both the autonomy and individual genius of the author and the autonomy of the literary work, and see literary texts as absolutely inseparable from their historical context" (Bertens 155). The text is fixed in a time period in history, and it is forced to stay in those parameters.
Since Flannery O' Conner wrote this story in 1953, she is stuck in the traditions and norms of her society. The author is an important factor of a story, but she did not have total control of what factors influenced her writing. Since this theory was first introduced by Stephen Greenblatt in 1982, it has been imperative to regard literature as being able to form new history. A work of literature could be regarded as important as a news article in spreading new ideals in culture. Therefore, literature is alive in this criticism, and it is up to the literature to let the past combine with the present and form a new historical identify.
Since Flannery O' Conner wrote this story in 1953, she is stuck in the traditions and norms of her society. The author is an important factor of a story, but she did not have total control of what factors influenced her writing. Since this theory was first introduced by Stephen Greenblatt in 1982, it has been imperative to regard literature as being able to form new history. A work of literature could be regarded as important as a news article in spreading new ideals in culture. Therefore, literature is alive in this criticism, and it is up to the literature to let the past combine with the present and form a new historical identify.
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Why use literary theory?
- Using these literary theories enriches the understanding of the text.
- "A Good Man is Hard to Find," delves into a historical setting by interpreting cultural roots in the story of the south in the United States
- The Psychoanalytic Perspective is important because it aids the analyzation of some of the main characters in the story and why they act in a certain way.
From the New Historical perspective, the story is imperative because it delves deeper into this concept of good versus evil. This is important because coming from the U.S. south in the 1950s, religion was determined by, "a series of vivid tropes describing the path leading from sinful life through conviction to conversion with the promise of heaven after death. Old Testament images of divine wrath and punishment were blended with New Testament homilies about the friendly Jesus dying a substitutionary death to purchase their salvation," (Boles). These extremes testing the loyalty of faith, made it so that many religions were not preoccupied with questioning their doctrine. All these dark images of punishment or believing in a Jesus, bring it back to the forefront of the story. Grandma is convinced that if the Misfit prays he can be saved and he can be good. This correlation of good equating to having a religious belief were the norm during that time in the south.
However, O'Conner challenges this belief by letting the audience know that the Misfit does not want to be saved. He is beyond the realm of religion or the societal norms. Therefore, even if he used to be a gospel singer when he was younger, and he grew up around the same systematic beliefs of Grandma and the author of the story, he is creating his own beliefs without the need for religion. O'Conner demonstrates with her literature that she is challenging the history of the south and stating that religion is not necessary to be a good person. She creates this new historical tradition of questioning whether religion makes a person good and if the south should continue to be attached to its historical religious roots.
However, O'Conner challenges this belief by letting the audience know that the Misfit does not want to be saved. He is beyond the realm of religion or the societal norms. Therefore, even if he used to be a gospel singer when he was younger, and he grew up around the same systematic beliefs of Grandma and the author of the story, he is creating his own beliefs without the need for religion. O'Conner demonstrates with her literature that she is challenging the history of the south and stating that religion is not necessary to be a good person. She creates this new historical tradition of questioning whether religion makes a person good and if the south should continue to be attached to its historical religious roots.
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Why part 2
- In the Psychoanalytic perspective, the Grandma's past could demonstrate why she acts in a certain way and cares what other people think about her.
- Seeing it from the Psychoanalytic perspective shows the Grandma's values and how this fits in modern society with her racist viewpoints.
These two theories aid in the analysis of the story because they offer deeper insights. For example, Grandma in the story is obsessed with her appearance, and her concept of good. Psychoanalytic Criticism would ask if there is something from her past that influences this mindset. It could be because she is stuck thinking about the past because she correlates the past with happy memories. She regards her family with distain because they do not have the same values she has. The author states this as, “'In my time,” said the grandmother, folding her thin veined fingers, “children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else,"' (35). Therefore, viewing her interpretation of life from this point highlights the three parts of the personality Freud made popular. Her id is stuck in the unconscious thoughts of the past and her ego is unable to satisfy her need for the past. Therefore, she must compensate by always bringing up the past. Despite the audience realizing that her past was not made up of just good because of the racism that Grandma brings up multiple times, she has convinced herself that it was some kind of fantasy land where she knew her place in the world.
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Works Cited
- Link, Alex. “Means, Meaning, and Mediated Space in ‘Good Man Is Hard to Find.’” Southern Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, Summer 2007, pp. 125–138. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27082602&site=ehost-l....
- Boles, John B. “The Southern Way of Religion.” Virginia Quarterly Review, vol. 75, no. 2, Spring 1999, p. 226. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=1730010&site=ehost-li....
- Purdue Writing Lab. “New Historicism, Cultural Studies // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_....
- Purdue Writing Lab. “Psychoanalytic Criticism // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_....
- Desmond, John. “Flannery O’Conner’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil.” Renascence, vol. 56, no. 2, Winter 2004, pp. 129–137. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=11859777&site=ehost-l....
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/literary/.
- “Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964).” New Georgia Encyclopedia, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/flannery-oconnor-1925-196....
Thank you for listening to my presentation, and I hope you have learned something about why literary criticism is important when studying literature.
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