Do you think the grandmother changes throughout the story? If not, why not? If so, why? Use evidence from the text to backup your opinion.
[In the story, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor, we are introduced a grandmother, who could be considered to have changed character by the end of the story, but in reality she only changed some of her tactics to get her way.] The story begins by explaining that the grandmother “didn’t want to go to Florida” and was “seizing at every chance to change Baily’s [her son’s] mind” (O’Connor, 1). She said that a criminal named “The Misfit” was on the loose in Florida in an attempt to cancel the trip. In reality, she only wanted to “visit some of her connections in East Tennessee” (1). We learn from the first page of this chapter that she selfish and manipulative; she always got her way. She was pushy, but the family still ended up driving to Florida. Partially into the trip, the grandmother recalled an old plantation that she wanted to visit. She knew that Bailey would not like to take a detour so she “craftily” told the children about a “secret panel” that didn’t really exist (9). Once again, she is manipulative and only gives thought to herself. The story proceeds and In an unfortunate turn of events, the family gets into a car accident and the Misfit comes upon them. Her family members are taken away from her, all the while she begs for her life. She acts a bit more kind and calls the Misfit a “good man” (17). She tells him he’s “got good blood” and that he wouldn’t “shoot a lady” (21). It is all to no avail and in a last attempt she calls him her baby and child. The Misfit then shoots her three times. This could be viewed as her changing as a character and becoming more compassionate, but she still remained manipulative and selfish. The kind words were only further attempted manipulation. The grandmother was manipulative and selfish from the point before departing on this trip, up to the moment she begs for her own life by trying to manipulate the Misfit while her family members get killed.
Good analysis, however I do think she does change her character drastically and realizes the error of her ways right at the end; despite it being possible to look at it through the lens of her remaining unempathetic and selfish, I do think she changed due to the last sentence she said accepting her fate and recognizing her status as a flawed human being. I feel like it's subjective at that point, but nice analysis.
ReplyDeleteI think that you make an interesting point about her being manipulative, however, though I feel like she was very self centered and wanted to get her way, I think that her motivation behind everything was more along the lines of just enjoying an argument and wanting to disagree with others rather than manipulate them. I do agree that she didn't really change though.
ReplyDeleteYou say that she changes her selfish tactics at the end of the book, however you provide no evidence of this. As a matter of fact it seems that you are saying the exact opposite, all the quotes you selected point to the conclusion that her manipulative behavior is consistent. Misleading topic sentence.
ReplyDeleteActually, I did provide evidence. You might notice that I pointed out that she began calling the Misfit her child and told him he was a good man. This is very different than her previous tactics of being sneaky, stubborn, and as Carly pointed out, being very argumentative. In the end she wasn't argumentative and complimented the Misfit, but she was only being manipulative once again.
DeleteThe topic sentence may not be worded perfectly but it's goal is to explain exactly this. She changed the way she was manipulative.
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