The document examines the importance of cultural context in understanding two short stories: Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' and Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Third and Final Continent.' It argues that knowledge of each author's background enhances comprehension of character motivations, symbolism, and conflicts, highlighting the struggles of their respective characters. Ultimately, the analysis emphasizes that deeper engagement with cultural context enriches the reading experience and reveals the authors' intentions.

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Louis Wischnewsky
English 102
Prof. Smith
3 Oct 2011
The Roma and the Misfit
In order to grasp stories on a more involved, deeper level and, in some cases, have them
make sense, readers need to know the cultural context of the authors and their lives. Two short
stories that exemplify this case are Mary Flannery O'Connor's work, “A Good Man is Hard to
Find” and “The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Without knowing O'Connor's
background, “A Good Man” is nothing more than entertainment, albeit darkly so. Conversely,
Lahiri's work comes across as dry and, frankly, boring because the story seems so stereotypical
of immigrant culture. Taking a closer look at the main characters in each story, symbolism in
both, and comparing the major conflicts demonstrates a real need for readers to be active and
have a deeper knowledge of the cultural context in which the stories are written.
It is difficult to imagine Lahiri's Mrs. Croft and O'Connor's Grandma living at the same
time yet, they did. Mrs. Croft's independence makes understanding Grandma difficult. Grandma
is an empty nester at the dusk of an American era and, for that reason, it is totally understandable
that she is afraid of being alone. Prior to the 1960s women were still deemed unable to fend for
themselves, especially in the South where the story takes place. Bailey's father is never
mentioned so it is assumed he has passed away. It is obvious, too, that she is ever fearful of being
alone and if the reader is not certain, June Star, her granddaughter says so bluntly: "She wouldn't
stay at home to be queen for a day," and, "She wouldn't stay at home for a million bucks" (“A
Good Man” 447). In a culture where women have little say in their lives, Grandma thrives for
attention; she particularly likes to tell stories of her “glorious” youth. Those stories eventually

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come across as a vivid imagination at work due to two clues. To begin with, readers discover that
Grandma is not beyond fairy tales:
“[S]he had been courted by a Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden … She
said … that he [gave] her a watermelon … with his initials cut in it,
E. A. T. [He] brought the watermelon … but she never got the
watermelon … because a … boy ate it when he saw the initials,
E.A.T.!” (“A Good Man” 449)
Grandma goes on to add some spice to a tale about a plantation she visited as a youth. It is this lie
that leads the family onto a path which will cost them their lives (“A Good Man” 451-452).
Without the cultural context of the era and the region during that era readers fail to understand
why women, particularly elderly women, like Grandma come across as so desparate for attention
and, at the same time, so forgiving of insults wielded by her obnoxious grandchildren.
Grandma is elderly, but she is not as old as Mrs. Croft. Not only do the two characters
diverge with their ages, but Grandma is never given a name; Lahiri's character is Mrs. Croft: she
has a name (Lahiri 293). Mrs. Croft throws a wrench into the culture works. How is that she is so
content living alone while Grandma was so paranoid? It cannot be argued that Mrs. Croft is the
product of a different generation because not only had they lived at the same time; Mrs. Croft is
older than Grandma. Lahiri wanted to draw readers toward re-evaluating stereotypical cultures. It
is easy to follow the narrator's experiences with different cultures, including his own. Yet, that is
not the point of the story. Eventually the reader can see why Mrs. Croft is arguably the main
character. For, without Mrs. Croft, the story is insignificant and the narrator as much says so in
the closing paragraph: “I know that my achievement is quite ordinary[,]” (302). The cultural
context of Lahiri is acutely important to the story. As Lahiri sees it through the narrator's point of
view, even marriage is a duty, mind-numbingly repetitious and having no meaning. Mrs. Croft,

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however, has lived for over a century witnessing the Reconstruction Era, two World Wars, the
rise of the automobile, and the Civil Rights Movement; she lived through half the Cold War and
… witnessed a man landing on the moon (293; 302). The narrator comes from an undeveloped
country to the most advanced nation on earth, where people do not “expect an Enlish cup of tea,”
yet, what is “Splendid!” is Mrs. Croft's history (290; 293). This is reflective of Lahiri's view of
what is to her a new and different culture. What the reader gets from the story is the author's
vision of another culture, further expounding the necessitiy to know the cultural context in which
the story is written. As a result, while readers feel some sympathy for Grandma even if they are
frustrated with her; with Mrs. Croft, at whose demise readers should feel sad, they marvel and,
well, feel good. Without the cultural context, those sentiments are exactly opposite.
Perhaps the greatest need to grasp the cultural context of the author in “A Good Man” is
the symbolism of the Misfit. Reading the story for pure entertainment, one might wonder why
O'Connor went through the long, almost tiresome explanation by the Misfit as to why he is the
way he is when, after all, he is going to kill Grandma - making his effort futile anyway (“A Good
Man” 453-457). O'Connor was a devout Catholic, though, and that tells the reader everything
(Kirszner and Mandell 446). The Misfit is the devil incarnate and as much states so:
[A]nd if He didn't, then it's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few
minutes you got left the best way you can by killing somebody or
burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No
pleasure but meanness (“A Good Man” 457).
Knowing O'Connor's religious beliefs brings meaning and purpose to the story. Indeed, she once
wrote, “The universe of the Catholic fiction writer is one that is founded on the theological truths
of the Faith, but particularly on three of them which are basic - the Fall, the Redemption, and the
Judgement[,]” (Mystery and Manners 185) Thus, the Misfit respresents Satan's fall from grace, a

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chance at Redemption that he does not take, and acceptance of his final Judgment.
Unlike O'Connor's story, symbolism in “The Third” can be difficult to recognize without
knowing the author's cultural context. Immediately in “The Third” there is symbolism that points
to a specific culture. The S.S. Roma is given a generic ship designation (290). Lahiri could have
easily placed H.M.S. or H.M.I.S. in front of the ship's name. Does the ship belong to England or
India? Perhaps a better question is this: does the narrator, as the Roma's passenger, belong to
India or the United States? The Roma part of the ship's name is the symbolism. Roma refers to a
sect of wandering people, a subculture of Gypsies: social outcasts. Even if a reader is keen
enough to catch this quick use of cultural symbolism, something critical might be missed. Are the
wanderers the narrator and his wife Mala, or does Lahiri want the reader to see someone else?
Mrs. Croft is the wanderer. However, her wandering was not across the globe or even within her
own nation (Grandma claimed to have been to several states). Indeed, she's lived in the same
house for well over forty years, as her daughter Helen explains, “She used to give piano lessons.
For forty years. It was how she raised us after my father died[,]” (297). No, Mrs. Croft has
wandered through time. Thus, Lahiri, having lived on three continents herself, uses symbolism to
point out to her audience the importance of knowing different cultures in order to understand her
tale (289).
As different as these two stories seem on the surface, underneath the characters and
symbolism are two similar struggles. Throughout “A Good Man” readers are wondering if this
part of the story is going to be the climax. One might argue that Grandma's inability to keep her
thoughts to herself is the big conflict. That is not the case though. During the final scene of the
story, Grandma not once gives physical or mental regret in recognizing the Misfit. Her attempts
to talk him out of murdering her are strictly self-serving. She never says, “You wouldn't kill an
infant, would you?” Instead, she says, "You wouldn't shoot a lady (emphasis added), would

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you?" (“A Good Man” 454).
So what is the conflict in O'Connor's story? To begin with, it would have to be described
as man versus self. A major struggle has already happened before the story is told. The Misfit has
already given a half a lifetime worth of thought to why he is the way he is (“A Good Man 455-
457). As much as readers are drawn to believe that his struggle with his personality is the major
conflict in the story, reading closer reveals that everything he says, Grandma is doing as she
stands right there before the Misfit. The fall, almost literally, ocurred when Grandma realized her
lie was an error for which she would be scolded by Bailey. Her plummet is furthered when she
announces that she recognizes the Misfit (“A Good Man” 453). Having countless opportunities at
Redemption, Grandma ignores them, not once offering to never tell anyone she saw him. She
refuses to make this offer for one simple reason: like the Misfit, she knows she will never “do
good” and honor such a promise. Thus, upon Grandma is fired her final Judgment. What's more,
like the Misfit, she does not know why. Thus, the conflict is exactly what O'Connor says will
reveal itself in the universe, or culture, of the Catholic writer.
It is equally difficult to recognize the greatest conflict in Lahiri's story. Is the story about
the struggles of an immigrant to the United States? No, the narrator not once describes
discriminations or difficulty finding a job – in fact, he already has a job promised to him. He
easily finds residence at Mrs. Croft's (291). What, then, is the conflict from whose outcome the
reader gains a new knowledge? As different as these stories come across, the conflict is where
they are quite similar. Lahiri, as the author, easily confuses the reader to think she is writing
about someone else's cultural struggles (Kirszner and Mandell 289). That is not the case though
and it is not a huge leap of the imagination to say Lahiri probably saw herself as Mala, a
relatively minor character. Mala helps readers recognize the true conflict of the story. Again, it is
man versus self because it is the narrator that has to struggle with the fact that, while his globe

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trekking is remarkable, it is insignificant compared to Mrs. Croft's journey through time
(remember his opinion of his “achievement”) (302). Lahiri's story is a lesson in the thesis of this
argument: in order to appreciate a story, the reader has to know the cultural context in which it
was written, particularly the author's culture.
Both “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “The Third and Final Continent” are charming
stories, sans the tragedies, but can be a labor to read. That labor evaporates, however, when one
becomes an active reader and learns the cultural context of the authors. The main characters in
each story provide readers rich fodder. Symbolism is deep in both requiring the reader to grasp
the cultural context of those symbols. Both stories have conflict that is relative to specific
cultures, even if “The Third and Final Continent” is more universal. The influence of the cultural
context of the authors in the main characters, symbolism, and the conflicts of the stories is
overwhelming and requires readers to be more deeply inolved.

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Works Cited
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Boston:
Wadsworth, 2011. Print.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. “The Third and Final Continent.” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Eds.
Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. 290-302.
Print.
O'Connor, Mary Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Literature: Reading, Reacting,
Writing. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth,
2011. 447-457.
---. Mystery and Manners. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1969. Print.