Critical analysis on A good man is hard to find Essay -- essays rese

Religious Symbolism in â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† This paper will present a rhetorical context for the use of violence in the short story, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find,† as she presented in her essay â€Å"The Element of Suspense.† The form of classical tragedy in this story will also be analyzed from the critical theories of Aristotle and Longinus. Tolstoy will be used to examine the use Christian symbolism. Nietzsche will provide a more well-rounded universal conclusion to the uses of tragedy and spiritual elements in this classic story. Flannery O’Connor gave a talk about â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† in 1963 at Hollins College, Virginia, which was published as the essay, â€Å"The Element of Suspense In ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find.’† In this essay, O’Connor defined the reasons for using violence in her stories. To establish a basis of reason within the story, O’Connor stated â€Å"Much of my fiction takes its character from a reasonable use of the unreasonable, though the reasonableness may not always be apparent. The assumptions that underlie . . . are those of the central Christian mysteries† ("Suspense" 803). O’Connor placed her characters in seemingly unreasonable situations as a means of creating a sublime experience. Her beliefs were strongly evident in the collected body of her fiction. She commented that, â€Å"Belief, in my own case, is the engine that makes perception operate† ("Suspense" 803). Perhaps the stronge st influence on her writing was her illness with lupus. O’Connor’s struggles with being ill and facing death certainly affected the creation of the characters who awaited a moment of grace. To justify the use of violence in her fiction, O’Connor stated â€Å"in my own stories I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace† ("Suspense" 804). Her characters were closed-minded and self-centered. â€Å"Their heads are so hard that nothing else will for the work,† was her justification for using violent means to awaken the characters to reality ("Suspense" 804). Although she employed terror and death in many of her stories, she stated that violence was not the ultimate goal of the stories. â€Å"It is in the extreme situation that best reveals what we are essentially† ("Suspense" 805). O’Connor believed the violent situations her char... ...vior as a means of coping with the tragedy of existence (422). â€Å"The gods show us how there is a need for a whole world of torment in order for the individual to produce the redemptive vision† (422). O’Connor employed Christian beliefs to create cathartic works of fiction in the same way Greek writers used their gods and heroes in tragic literature. â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† has spiritual meaning which transcends exclusively Christian ideals. O’Connor intended for the audience to become aware of what traits were essential for living and were â€Å"taken into eternity† ("Suspense" 805). The actions of the characters could be viewed through a more open minded screen which, actions that demonstrated the â€Å"real heart of the story† on a level which deals with â€Å"the Divine life and our participation in it† ("Suspense" 803). O’Connor intended for the story to â€Å"transcend any neat allegory† or â€Å"pat moral categories a reader could make† (803). The true heart of the story â€Å"must have somehow made contact with mystery† (803). Readers of diverse spiritual beliefs could still derive meaning from this story, since the unifying feeling of brotherhood is common among major religions.