View source for A Good Man Is Hard to Find (O'Connor)

{{written by AI}}

{{Summary
| Title = A Good Man Is Hard to Find
| Subtitle = 
| Original Title = 
| Author = Flannery O'Connor
| Literary form = short story
| Year of publication = 1953
| Microsummary = A Southern family's vacation turned fatal when their elderly relative's deceptions led to a crash. They met an escaped convict who engaged in philosophical discussion before murdering them all.
| Emoji = 🔫
}}

{{Start of text}}

== Short Summary ==

Georgia, 1950s. A family planned a vacation trip to Florida, despite the grandmother's protests about an escaped convict called The Misfit heading in that direction.

{{Character
| Name = The Grandmother
| Description = elderly woman, Bailey's mother, traditional Southern lady, manipulative, talkative, wears a navy dress and hat with violets, considers herself morally superior
| Emoji = 👵🏻
}}

During the journey, the grandmother convinced the family to take a detour to visit an old plantation house. On a dirt road, she suddenly realized the house was actually in Tennessee, not Georgia. Her startled reaction caused the cat she had secretly brought to jump on Bailey, making him crash the car.

A car approached, and three men emerged. The leader was The Misfit.

{{Character
| Name = The Misfit
| Description = escaped convict, middle-aged man, philosophical, violent, wears glasses and no shirt, speaks politely but acts ruthlessly
| Emoji = 🦹🏻‍♂️
}}

The Misfit's men took Bailey and his son to the woods and shot them. Then they did the same with the mother and her two children. Meanwhile, the grandmother tried to convince The Misfit that he was a good man. In a final moment of clarity,

{{Quote|
Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children! She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest.
}}

== Detailed Summary ==

''Division of the summary into chapters is conditional.''

=== The Family's Departure and Journey ===

A family prepared for a trip to Florida despite the grandmother's protests. She wanted to visit her connections in Tennessee instead and tried to dissuade her son Bailey by showing him a newspaper article about an escaped convict called The Misfit heading to Florida.

{{Character
| Name = Bailey
| Description = the grandmother's son, father of the family, around 35-40 years old, irritable, wearing yellow shirt with parrots, bald
| Emoji = 👨🏻
}}

The next morning, the grandmother was first in the car, secretly bringing her cat Pitty Sing. The family - Bailey, his wife, their baby, John Wesley, and June Star - departed from Atlanta. The grandmother wore her best clothes, reasoning that if they had an accident, people would know she was a lady.

{{Character
| Name = Children's Mother
| Description = young woman, Bailey's wife, wears slacks and green kerchief, face like a cabbage, passive, caring for the baby
| Emoji = 👩🏻
}}

{{Character
| Name = John Wesley
| Description = 8-year-old boy, Bailey's son, stocky child wearing glasses, outspoken and disrespectful
| Emoji = 👦🏻
}}

{{Character
| Name = June Star
| Description = young girl, Bailey's daughter, yellow-headed, sassy and rude, performs tap dancing
| Emoji = 👧🏻
}}

{{Quote|
In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady.
}}

=== The Stop at Red Sammy's and the Fatal Detour ===

The family stopped at Red Sammy's Famous Barbecue. During their visit, Red Sammy and the grandmother discussed how times had changed and people couldn't be trusted anymore.

{{Character
| Name = Red Sammy Butts
| Description = fat man, owner of The Tower restaurant, wears khaki trousers, trusting of strangers
| Emoji = 👨🏻
}}

{{Quote|
A good man is hard to find, Red Sammy said. Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.
}}

Later, the grandmother remembered an old plantation house and manipulated the children into begging Bailey to visit it. She claimed it had a secret panel, though this wasn't true. Bailey reluctantly agreed to take the dirt road, but during the drive, the grandmother suddenly realized the house was actually in Tennessee, not Georgia. Her realization caused her to jump, disturbing the cat, which leaped onto Bailey's neck. The car flipped over into a ditch.

=== The Encounter with The Misfit ===

While the family was stranded, a car approached. Three men emerged, and the grandmother recognized one as The Misfit. This recognition sealed their fate, as The Misfit remarked it would have been better if she hadn't identified him.

{{Character
| Name = Bobby Lee
| Description = young man, The Misfit's accomplice, fat boy wearing black trousers and red sweat shirt
| Emoji = 🧑🏻
}}

{{Character
| Name = Hiram
| Description = young man, The Misfit's accomplice, wears khaki pants and gray hat
| Emoji = 🧑🏻
}}

The Misfit ordered his men to take Bailey and John Wesley into the woods. Soon after, gunshots were heard. The same happened with the children's mother, June Star, and the baby. Throughout this, The Misfit engaged in a philosophical discussion with the grandmother about Jesus and justice.

{{Quote|
I found out the crime don't matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you're going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it.
}}

The Misfit explained his philosophy and his doubts about Jesus and justice. He spoke about his imprisonment for a crime he couldn't remember committing and his conclusion that there was no real pleasure in life, only meanness.

{{Quote|
Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead, The Misfit continued, and He shouldn't have done it. He shown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then it's nothing for you to do but thow away everything
}}

=== The Grandmother's Final Moments ===

As the grandmother tried desperately to connect with The Misfit, calling him a good man and appealing to his better nature, she experienced a moment of clarity. She reached out and touched him, saying he was one of her own children. The Misfit recoiled and shot her three times in the chest.

{{Quote|
Listen lady, if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn't be like I am now... His voice seemed about to crack and the grandmother's head cleared for an instant.
}}

After the grandmother was dead, The Misfit cleaned his glasses and ordered his men to dispose of her body with the others. In his final observation about the grandmother, he reflected on the nature of goodness and violence.

{{Quote|
She would have been a good woman, The Misfit said, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.
}}

The story concluded with The Misfit's final statement that there was no real pleasure in life. The entire family had been killed, and their vacation ended in tragedy because of a chance encounter made possible by the grandmother's manipulative behavior and fatal recognition of The Misfit.

{{End of text}}