A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor - Short Story Summary, Analysis, Review

I think we all want the ending explained. Was the Grandmother saved in A Good Man is Hard to Find? Join us on the discussion today as we take a step deeper into this American Short Story Classic.
Flannery O'Connor Playlist: • A Good Man is Hard to ...
Read Story for Free: repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream...
Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books!
#FlanneryOConnor
#SouthernGothic
Subscribe: / @thecodexcantina
Forgive the old men as they pretend they can use Social Media:
/ thecodexcantina
/ thecodexcantina
=====
Song: Infinite
Artist: Valence
Licensed to KZbin by: AEI (on behalf of NCS); Featherstone Music (publishing), and 1 Music Rights Societies
Free Download/Stream: • Valence - Infinite | F...

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Flannery O'Connor Playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXe3hHmgqa53jck BOOKMARKS: Publication Info: @0:47 Author Information: @1:06 Summary + Analysis: @3:02

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for watching!

[@katiewilliams5674]

I’m reading O’Connor for the first time for Flannery O’January and I’m so glad I can watch these videos now. So far I have loved every story.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

She’s wonderful! I hope you continue to enjoy (I think you will like her)

[@deanie3824]

I feel like everyone knows someone like the Grandmother, has a family member like that, or is unknowingly like the Grandmother. So I'd agree, humans are complicated and it'd be difficult to look at a family member you love and also be like "you're a completely bad person!" I don't have a religious background, so I enjoy hearing you bring those elements in as I would completely miss those interpretations.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

We're recording "The River" soon. Sometimes these reviews are just going to turn into bible reference videos XD

[@shelby4475]

Thank you both for reading the stories and going over them like this! So far y'all have had every story I've been reading in my class and they've helped a ton! Forever grateful!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for listening

[@BookishTexan]

Great job! I have to say that -- with the exception of what ultimately happened to the family -- events of this story, the characters, etc. spoke to my experiences growing up. This is on my list of favorite stories as well.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Bookish Well I can say I’m very glad your family avoided this fate. Krypto obviously lives on the wild side living in Florida...

[@jeralynbarbie4592]

In my English class we are comparing this Story to Where are you going, Where have you been? Joyce Carol Oates- for Bob Dylan- I really enjoyed your thesis- I too didn't think grandma was bad until she pleaded for her life- whole family just murdered and yet she wanted to live? That was my food for thought. Also open mouth insert foot when she blurted out "Your the Misfit!"

[@TheCodeXCantina]

We'll be doing that story early next year. Perhaps we can do a comparison then.

[@comanchedase]

I think that the best short story ever written is "The Burrow" by Kafka.

[@p0ggles775]

🌲🌳🎄🌴🎋 This has been my favorite story I've read so far, and y'alls conversation made me love it even more. There's so much more depth to this story than I had originally thought, and I'm so happy to have broadened my understanding of it. Cheers! 🍻

[@TheCodeXCantina]

This story is so unique and powerful. Glad you could find multiple ways to look at it!

[@BA-Piper]

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs seems somewhat similar to this short story. Flannery O’Connor helped me with that film. I feel certain someone else has made this observation, but it didn’t occur to me until I listened to your discussion. The Coen Brother’s have a similar feel. Glad I have found your channel!

[@carlvinson8606]

Thanks so m uch guys, your channel is a treasure trove. I am a Southerner and Flannery O'Connor nut, have read everything she wrote plus anything written about her I can find. Found you guys while looking for some help with 'The Sound and the Fury.' Thanks for the excellent help on that. I really love 'A Good Man' and just a few weeks ago was trying to explain this story and what FO'C was all about to my brother. Not that it proves me right or wrong but I made almost all the same observations to him in recapping it to my poor brother. I really enjoy your insight and the friendly format of give and take. It's almost like a little book club. And I see that you have already done videos of several books that are on my planned reading list. Can't wait to see what you say about those.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

That's great when we can find people who connect with books in similar ways. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on some of the reads. Please do share!

[@anenthusiasticreader]

I've read this story a few times over many years, all for school, so it's been a long time. I think for me O'Connor is an author I just can't penetrate fully because that gothic/religious/historical atmosphere isn't familiar. But it was fun to hear you parse it all out.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

an enthusiastic reader good literature is sometimes seen as a door, mirror, or window. A door can invite you to change. The window gives you a view into foreign landscapes and can help me understand other people’s experiences. I enjoy the mirror of things I’m more accustomed to but for some reason am always drawn back to the window

[@karenhargis9824]

I love this short lit. Wonderful woman

[@davids.rashidi5359]

Really useful, thank you

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Awesome! Any time

[@bard8499]

Fantastic analysis!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks!

[@itsrecky2867]

great book

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

Great video on a great story, thanks for this! Jeez, how I love Flannery O'Connor

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Everyone who reads it must Converse I can tell by the name. We’re recording “A Late Encounter” now 😂. What’s your favorite work by her?

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

@@TheCodeXCantina The violent bear it away, a masterpiece. As far as short stories- everything that rises must converge. Close second is temple of the Holy Ghost.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Everyone who reads it must Converse ill have to line those up next! I have “The River” currently slated for March. Krypto has been super hyped about her. I see Tolstoy work on your channel as well. I think we’re going to get along just fine 👍😂👍

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

@@TheCodeXCantina cool Bros! Nice that you got this buddy-thing going on your channel. I dig it! Hitting Anna Karenina in March so, it's on! Well met, yall!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Everyone who reads it must Converse Amazing! Can’t wait to see. We’ll have to try to collaborate some day. Tolstoy doesn’t get enough love these days

[@thangtrantrung5876]

Flannery O’Connor reminds me of Dostoevsky. Both of them were trouble souls heavily haunted by Christ.

[@bighardbooks770]

Spot on (I'm with Krypto here) and deep analysis, Una, of a seemingly simple, Gothic, and grotesque Southern grit story. Loved it.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Big Hard Books & Classics 😂 Thanks, Allen. Check your email that’s listed on your About page when you get a chance.

[@bighardbooks770]

@@TheCodeXCantina About #FaulknerInAugust ?

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Big Hard Books & Classics yeah

[@bighardbooks770]

@@TheCodeXCantina Well, I answered it yesterday: Yes, TSATF this August . . .

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Big Hard Books & Classics must have been eaten by spam monster. One chapter a week?

[@ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

GREAT discussion! Thank you :) I agree with your ratings. O'Connor is usually writing with a Catholic mind about Southern Protestants (often insane, grotesque, or disfigured protestants who are majorly judgmental of others). I agree somewhat more with Una's catholic interpretation. If you read O'Connor's essays (and other stories), she often talks about (or portrays) characters experiencing revelation with very rude awakenings. She was trying to make clear that redemption is costly and requires suffering. But the stories don't always revolve around salvation; sometimes the characters just face a difficult truth. It's not just about the past, either, I dont think; people of every age delude themselves. In grandma's case, she thinks she's a good person bc she knows how to behave in a mannerly, class-conscious fashion. But is she really a good person? It takes facing death further to answer that question. Both gma amand the shooter have their own revelations, I think; that's common in her stories. I'm always looking for those kinds of short stories, too! :) I recommend The Lame Shall Enter First by Flanner O'Connor, but I'm hoping to get recommendations from your comment section!

[@ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

The mysterious movement of grace is a huge theme in O'connor's stories 😁

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Space Wow, sounds like this one piece is very indicative of her views. We’ll absolutely check out more from her.

[@anenthusiasticreader]

I like hearing your interpretation of this and it does give me a framework to understand it better.

[@ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

@@TheCodeXCantina yes! She packs a lot of meaning into every story.

[@ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

@@anenthusiasticreader I'm so glad! She's one of my favorites 😁❤

[@alfonsogaitan8281]

Perhaps you guys could do an episode on Teddy by J.D. Salinger? I love what I've watched so far!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

I think we're doing a Salinger story soon. Don't remember which one

[@wildmanz8233]

Another work by Flannery O'Connor that you might want to consider is Good Country People. It has themes of disability (both physical and moral) and religion. After reading the author's ouevre, I'd rank it in her top 3 or 4 stories.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Oh that was a great one and thanks for the suggestion. We did a skit for that one we loved it so much. These are the stories we’ve covered so far: kzbin.info/aero/PLHg_kbfrA7YBZyUx5j397gVRR65-YafCt

[@ydaliaramirez8681]

What was Krypton fav short story? I need a link

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Lol, he first switched to this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnemo4CEbrd_d68 and then later switched it to this for his favorite: kzbin.info/www/bejne/emimpHhtf8iYmZY

[@01123heavenlybe]

A good man is hard to find. Until then, a good threat will do.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

🤣 slow clap 👏

[@knittingbooksetc.2810]

Or was she the devil (snake)? And she is saying he is hers (belonging to the devil)?

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Could be! Felt very open

[@TheDropOfTheDay]

As a non-religious individual who did not grow up in America. I found it incredibly boring. I find any story that serves as a commentary on Christianity and their denominations just so incredibly dull. I understand that the Bible is part of the Western canon but I don't want to have to research and understand a whole religious group just to "get" the themes in your piece.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

That’s fair. Flannery O’Connor is certainly a writer who would be in the sphere that writes to that.

[@TheDropOfTheDay]

@@TheCodeXCantina I can definitely recognise her incredible writing ability and the way she weaves in themes subtly within a piece, it's just that the subject matter is difficult for me to relate to, so there's always some level of disconnect.