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Character Analysis Essay
Grandmother in O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
In Flannery O’Connor’s story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the Grandmother who is
self-serving, deceitful, and manipulative is a central character in the story who makes the flow of
the narration interesting. The grandmother lives with Bailey and his family. Although she lives in
the past, she only wishes to remain being identified as a "Lady" despite her age. Grandmother's
selfishness, manipulation, and lies cause her to fall into the hands of Misfit who shoots her to
death.
The grandmother’s behavior demonstrates clearly that she is manipulative to other
characters. The grandmother gets what she wants and requires others to listen to her and follow
what she says. Initially, the grandmother does not want to go to Florida, as she claims to be
having relatives that she would wish to visit in Tennessee. She does not consider her present life
but keeps on glorifying her past life, which she spent in rose-colored glasses. She does not allow
other people's feelings to stand on the way. In her conversation with the family, she justifies her
needs by convincing everyone that her suggested way was the only appropriate one. Indeed, she
manipulates Bailey to change direction and go to Tennessee and not in Florida with the aim of

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changing the family's vacation place. The grandmother says, ""The children have been to Florida
before," -------- "You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see
different parts of the world and be broad.”” During the journey to Florida, she suggests the
family visit an old house she knew and the argument results in a car accident and the death of the
entire group.
She does not live in the current world but in her past. Her dressing code while going for
the journey, whereby she dressed in a suit, indicates that she still thinks that she is young. The
author states; "Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace, and at her necklace,
she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident,
anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady." (12). When
encountered by Misfit she also tries reasoning with him but ends up enraging him and finally
shot dead. She also manipulates Misfit by appealing that she is a lady for him not to shoot her,
but finally, she was murdered. She says, You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you? “you’re a good
man". She says all these words to manipulate Misfit to stop killing her as the rest of the family
was already killed.
The grandmother is selfish based on how she manipulates others to satisfy her needs
without caring about the feelings and interest of the other family members. She convinces Bailey
to change his mind and stop going to Florida but goes to Tennessee. This means that whenever
things are not going as she wishes, she would do anything to have them go her way. She pretends
to be concerned about children changing their vacation by going to Tennessee instead of Florida,
but she does all this for her sake. Even after being told not to take the cat with her, she hides it in
a basket and goes with it for the journey. The grandmother convinces Misfit not to kill her and
yet the others were already murdered, meaning she was selfish. She tells Misfit that she knew

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him but did not know that recognizing a murderer was a horrible thing. The grandmother even
clings to Misfit but ends up being shot after she desperately lost her voice. The author asserts that
"Maybe He didn't raise the dead," the old lady mumbled, not knowing what she was saying and
feeling so dizzy that she sank in the ditch with her legs twisted under her.” (135)
The grandmother twists her lies in a way that one might think that she is talking the truth.
When arguing about not wanting to go to Florida, she lied that the children would like to be in a
different place, as they have ever been to Florida. She also wishes to visit the old plantation,
however, having known that Bailey would not agree with her, she claims to be concerned about
the kids being there. She even described the old house to the children with the addition of some
mysterious information to displeasure their curiosity. The author says that "There was a secret
panel in this house," she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, "and the
story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through, but it was
never found..." (45). She says this knowing very well it is a lie. The grandmother lies to herself
while lying to others. Indeed, the grandmother is selfish and wishes to satisfy her self-
centeredness by manipulating others.
In conclusion, from the beginning, the grandmothers started behaving in a manipulative,
deceptive, and selfishness way. She refused to go to Florida and yet she gets ready for the trip.
She manipulated Bailey to change his mind and go to Tennessee because of the old plantation,
which she lies about. After meeting with Misfit, she argues with him not to kill her by stating
that he is a good man but finally was shot dead. The grandmother plays a major role in making
the play's title and themes a reality.

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Work Cited
‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ by Flannery O'Connor 1953,1954.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/goodman.html