“A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a Southern gothic short story written by Flannery O’Connor. Published in 1953, the story follows one family’s encounter with senseless violence. Ripe with foreshadowing and O’Connor’s trademark commentary on the South, the story explores nostalgia, grace, and goodness in a cruel world and is widely acknowledged as one of O’Connor’s strongest pieces.
The story opens on the talkative matriarch of a Tennessee family—referred to only as “The Grandmother”—complaining about their impending road trip to Florida. She'd rather visit friends in east Tennessee, and voices her concern about The Misfit, an escaped serial killer.
The family, which includes her son, Bailey; his wife; and their children, June Star, John Wesley, and the baby—fails to take her seriously.The next morning, the family sets out on their road trip. Along the way, the Grandmother points out landmarks and reminisces about her courtship with an early investor in Coca-Cola. She scolds June Star and John Wesley for speaking poorly of Tennessee, saying that children used to be more respectful in her day. The Grandmother, though, reveals her revisionist relationship to the past, when they pass a Black child wearing rags and she finds it charming and nostalgic.
The family stops at The Tower for barbecued sandwiches, where the owner, Red Sammy Butts, and his wife wait on them. The Grandmother and Red Sammy commiserate about the state of the world, complaining that “people are certainly not nice like they used to be.” Red Sammy tells a story about how he gave two men gas on credit, then came to regret trusting them. “A good man,” he remarks, “is hard to find.”
The family sets off again, reaching Georgia. The Grandmother recalls an old plantation in the area and suggests they make a visit. Bailey refuses, not wanting to take a detour, so The Grandmother lies, claiming that there is hidden treasure inside the house, exciting June Star and John Wesley. Perturbed, their father agrees to turn around and drives down the dirt road leading to the plantation.
After a while, The Grandmother is embarrassed to realize that she has misremembered the location of the old plantation, which is back in Tennessee—nowhere nearby. Startled by this thought, she causes the family’s cat, Pitty Sing, to escape from its basket and jump on Bailey's shoulder. Bailey veers off the road, flipping the car and stranding the family in a ditch.
While shaken, the family survives and waits for help. The children begin shrieking, “We’ve had an ACCIDENT!” Soon enough, another car approaches, and three men climb out. The Grandmother is struck by how familiar the driver looks; it is “as if she had known him all her life.” Then, all at once, The Grandmother recognizes the man. “You’re the Misfit!” Smiling, the man replies, "it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me." It isn’t long before the Misfit calmly orders his two accomplices, Bobby Lee and Hiram, to take Bailey and John Wesley into the woods. Panicking, The Grandmother appeals to the Misfit for mercy, speculating that he is a “good man at heart” and must “come from nice people.” But when two gunshots ring out, she screams, “Bailey Boy!”
Hiram and Bobby Lee return from the woods carrying Bailey's shirt, which The Misfit puts on, ominously remarking that he borrowed the clothes he’s wearing from “some folks [they] met.” Next, Bobby Lee and Hiram help up The Mother, the baby, and June Star, taking them into the woods. Growing hysterical, The Grandmother repeats, "I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady." But when she advises the Misfit to pray to Jesus, the Misfit tells her he’s doing alright on his own.
Three more shots ring out. The Grandmother bargains with the Misfit, offering him all her money. But The Misfit has no interest in money. Instead, he suggests that Jesus shouldn't have raised the dead because “if He did what He said, then it's nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him. And 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.” The Misfit insists that the only pleasure he finds in life is "meanness."
Noting that The Misfit looks about to cry, The Grandmother cries out, "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" and touches him on the shoulder. The Misfit responds by firing three shots into her chest, killing her. When Hiram and Bobby Lee return, The Misfit, looking deeply affected, says: "She would of been a good woman… if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
The Question and Answer section for Flannery O'Connor’s Stories is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
Grandmother is a cranky old woman who lives with her son, Bailey, and his wife and two children. She is preoccupied with appearances and snobby about "common people." The cynicism of the world really comes out through the character of...
"I'd smack his face," John Wesley said.
"Tennessee is just a hillbilly dumping ground," John Wesley said, "and Georgia is a lousy state too."
"My daddy said I was a different breed of dog from my brothers and...
When the Grandmother remembers an old plantation that she thinks used to be in the area they are traveling, Bailey does not want to take a detour to go find it. As a result, the Grandmother makes up a lie about how there are secret doors in the...
