Two of Flannery O’Connor’s masterpieces, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People,” mainly reflect the life and opinions of the South during the mid 20th Century. Also, these works of historic art possess several similarities and differences mainly on the subject of deceit, violence, and religion. The similarities that swarm in both of O’Conner’s works are all negative and revolve around similar themes. In addition, it is even said that this similar characteristic of O’Connor’s narrative makes it “chaste and severe and realistic in its working out of the narrative.” (Friedman). Furthermore, these short stories contain characters with similar characteristics of pompousness, selfishness, and manipulation. On the other hand, these works abound with many differences. Aside from the fact that there is explicit erotica in “Good Country People,” both of O’Connor’s literary masterpieces show other more subtle differences. All in all, these stories not only complement each other but portray an image of deceit within societies.
In these stories, the characters that seem presumably dependable and so-called “good” actually hide behind a mask of Christianity and are evil deep within. This trend of religion and deceit is commonly displayed in vital characters in all of O’Conner’s works, especially in “The Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” O’Conner frequently uses characteristics to effectively introduce her themes. In “The Good Country People” a tone of irony is set by the title itself and characters such as Manley Pointer continue the irony throughout the story. Manley Pointer is a Bible salesman who is supposed to be a messenger that brings the word of God to people. He uses this entitlement to portray himself as a “good” member of society and even seeks sympathy by presenting false news such as: “I got this heart condition and I might not live long” (O’Connor, “Good Country”).
Ironically towards the end of the story, Mrs. Hopewell compliments Pointer when she tells Mrs. Freeman that the world would be better if everyone were as simple and as “good” a man as Pointer. However, this false-appearance Pointer displays is unmasked towards the end of the story when he runs away with Hulga’s artificial leg by tricking her into teaching him how to reattach her artificial leg. Pointer himself admits to being a fraud in front of Hulga by saying, “I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday and I know where I’m going!” (O’Connor, “Good Country”). His true colors bleed more when he accuses Hulga of not being intelligent enough to see his pretenses. All in all, O’Conner effectively uses Manley Pointer to deliver a theme of deceit and fraud Moreover, in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a criminal known as the Misfit admits that he was once a gospel singer then he turned into a dangerous bloodthirsty criminal. O’Connor indicates that the Misfit did not gain anything when he was a Gospel singer and worse it likely even helped him turn into a monster. Once again O’Conner employs religion into her works to make her themes more powerful and appealing.
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Aside from religious pretenses, both of these narratives possess a similar trait of negatively referring to Negroes. This racial depiction of Negroes gives the readers a realistic insight into the southern lifestyle during that period of time. In addition, this gives the audience the impression that the characters in both stories signify pretentious people who may seem religious and humane, but keep slaves and refer to them as Negroes with malignant dishonor.
A common trait of violence is employed in O’Conner’s literary works. It is said that O’Conner “used violence to convey her vision that man must reach God through…violence” (Shinn). Furthermore, these works are believed to possess “mercilessly pleasurable tension” (Hawkes), in which this tension shows itself through O’Connor’s portrayal of violence. This shows that O’Conner commonly uses violence as a ploy of redemption in her stories.
On the other hand, these two stories are full of many subtle differences. For example, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” possesses a higher degree of violence than “The Good Country People.” Hence six people were brutally murdered including a woman, children, and even a baby and no murders occur in “The Good Country People.” Although violence is a common theme in these stories, each story employs a different variation of violence. The personal nature of the antagonist would serve as another example of a difference in these two stories. The two characters are actually uncomparable, Manley Pointer being far worse of a man than the Misfit. The Misfit may have dealt with the family quite violently but he was truthful in front of others: “I ain’t a good man…but I ain’t the worst in the world neither” (O’Connor, “A Good Man”). This honesty is unique and cannot even be located in the seemingly religious but manipulative grandmother who tricks her family while they journey to Florida. However, Manley Pointer lives by a different morale; one full of deceit and a bible which “was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey” (O’Conner, “Good Country People”). Manley Pointer can be considered as a perfect imposter who hides his identity behind a mask of religion, humor, and politeness. Also, Pointer hides behind fake diseases to obtain attention and affection: “I got this heart condition and I may not live long” (O’Connor, “Good Country People”). Obviously, his goal is to manipulate Hulga into a trap of deceit. Overall, The Misfit projects the version of a more honest antagonist, therefore, making him a better man than Manley Pointer.
Flannery O’Connor’s short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People” abound with similarities in characterization, plot development, and theme. These stories both include characters that deem themselves superior to other characters. Furthermore, both stories illustrate characters that judge other characters in negative ways especially negroes. Both of these two stories also deal with the theme of not judging a person by their appearances, and how this directly affects the outcome of the story. Both “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People” feature a character or characters that see themselves superior to the other characters.
In “A Good Man is Hard” to Find, the grandmother thinks of herself as superior to other characters, and this is most evident when she talks to the Misfit about forgiveness and Jesus. In “Good Country People,” Hulga thought of herself as more intelligent than Manley Pointer and ends up getting outsmarted by him and consequently loses her leg and her dignity. This use of superiority as a component of characterization shows that in spite of this belief that the character is more superior than the other characters, the story ends fairly unpleasant for them. We also learn by the end of the story that these characters were not more superior, but rather just thought of themselves higher than they were. In both of these stories, a central character misjudges another individual. This error in judgment results in a sudden point of insight, an epiphany, when the characters realize their misjudgment. On the other hand, only a couple of more subtle differences take place in these two stories. However, these two stories effectively get a powerful theme across and give the audience a powerful lesson to ponder on.
