A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Good Country People

Alexis Doan

Professor Graybill

English 102 H

10/20/2015

Similarities in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People”

Throughout literature many different short stories share common themes and structures. Two similar short stories with common character structures and theme include “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Conner. Looking at these two short stories and comparing the similarities is important in understanding all the symbols and the overall meaning the author wishes to portray. Flannery O’Conner’s overall message of both short stories is the idea of religion and what makes a person good by using the idea of good vs evil to compare the actions performed by different characters with similar traits.

Character is one important similarity between these two stories. The grandmother from “A Good Man is Hard to find” and Manley Pointer from “Good Country People” are two prime examples of similar characters from different short stories. In the beginning of the story Manley Pointer is portrayed as a good Christian man who sells bibles door to door. When Manley first comes to the door he introduces himself and says, “I guess a lot of boys come telling you they're working their way through college…I don't want to go to college. I want to devote my life to Christian service”(1176) portraying himself as a moral character. Later in the story you find Manley is an atheist who’s bible is hollow and filled with whisky, condemns, and cards. He leaves with Hulga’s false leg ultimately showing an opposite view of the morality of the character than first beloved. The grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to find” acts like she is better than all the other characters, often criticizing society for not being full of good folk anymore. While stopped at Red Sammy’s famous BBQ the grandmother says, “"People are certainly not nice like they used to be,"(1163) which is an example of this negative out view on the world.

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