Southern Womanhood Through Flannery O'Connor

The South of Flannery O'Connor's works is one that is going through a transition from a painful past to an awkward and confusing future. Without any source of assurance or direction, the old South pined away for the past while the new South attempted to sever itself from its past and roots. This led to a displacement of fears and tension that is especially apparent in O'Connor's uncanny characters and violent plots. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a vacationing family survives an automobile accident only to face a tragic end. At first, the violence may seem excessive and unnecessarily grim, but a closer analysis reveals its necessary purpose. Bailey's inability to face and deal with reality results in his death, as well as his son's. Similarly, the helplessness of the mother and baby, and the intolerable arrogance of June Star in the face of death, leads to their murders as well. Bailey, his wife, and children represent the new South that attempts to reject its past but is ultimately influenced by it. Grandmother, on the other hand, is an embodiment of the old South and its continuous presence despite the passage of time. Both the old South and the new South must move beyond their own forms of pride and come to terms with the past and present, but the resolution is not simple. As Robert Cole's Flannery O'Connor's South discusses, O'Connor saw all human misdoing as a result of some form of pride. The brutality that takes place in the story presents the reader with "what devils there are among us, how firm their hold is" and thus accounting for the extreme violence that results from the struggle (RC, 105). The family trip is a symbolic journey during which the past and present South are drawn together by their that results in the same fate for all involved.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" opens with the introduction of grandmother, who lives with Bailey, "the son she lived with, her only boy." The nuclear family seems quite conventional at first, with Bailey reading the sports section, his wife feeding the baby, and his children reading the funny papers. However, there is an immediate sense that there is something distorted about the family, specifically in the relationships between the members of the family. Grandmother wants to go to Tennessee instead of Florida and uses her grandchildren's safety in order to manipulate her son into changing his mind. Bailey and his wife completely ignore grandmother's efforts and the only responses she gets are those of her grandchildren. John Wesley, notably sharing the same name as the founder of the Methodist movement of Protestantism, rudely asks his grandmother why she does not just stay at home. His sister June Star answers caustically, "She wouldn't stay at home for a million bucks. Afraid she'd miss something. She has to go everywhere we go" (FO, 1143). The grandmother is the past of the South that refuses to stay in the past, and follows the lives of the new South. While it was a bit devious of the grandmother to use the news of The Misfit in an attempt to get her way, the words of John Wesley and June Star are much more vicious and vulgar than deserved, as well as very shocking coming from young children. This idea of unjustifiable punishment or retribution Although the old South has a past full of sin and guilt. Despite her efforts to convince the family not to go to Florida, the grandmother does not get her way and is the first person ready to go when it comes time to leave.

Completely dressed in matching attire and accessories, the grandmother's physical appearance is described in great detail:

"…grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet" (FO, 1143-44)."

Ironically, grandmother mentions that dressed in such a way, she would be recognized as a 'lady' if she were to be found dead, which is eventually what will happen. From the extensive detail of the grandmother's apparel, it is clear that she takes great pride in the old South and her appearance as a traditional Southern lady. The image of grandmother is purposely contrasted to the plain description of the unnamed mother, still in slacks with the same green kerchief tied around her head that had earlier been likened to "rabbit's ears" (FO, 1143). Both women are unnamed but the grandmother's presence in the story and influence on the family are strongly felt whereas the mother hardly speaks at all and does nothing even when her family is in danger. Dressed in slacks, the mother is the image of the new Southern women, but her words and actions do not reflect the notion of modern female independence and empowerment. This is an example of reversed stereotypes, for Grandmother, who is old-fashioned and dresses like a traditional lady, is very persuasive, talkative, and opinionated. Although the reader recognizes the selfish characteristics in the grandmother, there is respect for her. The grandmother's "leathery thin face" depicts her age and experience, as opposed to the youth and inexperience seen in the "smooth bland" face of the baby and the "broad and innocent as a cabbage" face of the mother (FO, 1143-44). Nevertheless, the grandmother is still guilty of a pride that causes her to linger in her past. During the trip, the grandmother is the only one who appreciates the natural scenery with its "red clay banks slightly streaked with purple," "rows of green lace-work," and trees full of "silver-white sunlight" (FO, 1144). The colors of the scenery are commonly associated with those in moments of revelation, signaling the grandmother's journey towards understanding and clarity. The distinction between the grandmother and her family is emphasized here by the children, who are of a new generation of popular culture and are only interested in their comic magazines. June Star is in agreement with his brother John Wesley, who regards Tennessee as "just a hillbilly dumping ground" and Georgia to be "a lousy state too" (FO, 1144). These comments serve to show the children's pride in their present modern lives, and their contempt for South, and essentially their history and roots.

Along the way, the grandmother also notices a Black child, whom she refers to as "the cute little pickaninny." The grandmother's comment that "Little niggers in the country don't have things like we do" and desire to paint a picture of the scene shows her patronizing view towards Blacks (FO, 1144). The grandmother's patronizing attitude towards Blacks is racist and can be attributed to her past. Excitedly pointing out the family burying ground that belonged to the plantation, the grandmother shows the nostalgia and pride that she has for her old Southern plantation life and background. The children, on the other hand, do not seem to care much, aside from June Star's comment on the Black child's lack of britches. As seen by John Wesley's amusement at the watermelon story, the new South only superficially understands issues of the past. The children signify the new South that understands only its present livelihood and views the past as something distant and uninteresting. Furthermore, June Star is not amused by the story at all because she would not marry a man that only brought her watermelons, showing a pride of the new generation, one in materialism. At the Tower, June Star tells Red Sam's wife "I wouldn't live in a broken down place like this for a million bucks!" (FO, 1145) June Star's rude comment shows how she looks down on Red Sam and his wife, further reiterating her pride in her own living conditions and her fixation on money. Similarly, the grandmother believes that "People are certainly not nice like they used to be," showing her pride in the past and her belief that it is superior to the present (FO, 1146). Yet, the grandmother hypocritically deems Red Sam to be a good man, revealing her superficial and unsound judgment of good and bad.

Ultimately, it is the grandmother's desire to visit the house from her youth that drives her to manipulate her family into making a detour, and her mistake and inability to face it that leads the family to their doom. Even after the car accident, the grandmother cannot bring herself to tell the truth and mention her mistake about the location of the house. Instead, she sits in a ditch from which only the tops of trees can be seen. The ditch that the family has ended up in is very natural and separate from the rest of civilization. The road is about ten feet above and behind them is only more woods, "tall, dark, and deep," a common literary setting for extraordinary spiritual experiences (FO, 1148). In addition, the repetition of the children's screams of delight, "We've had an ACCIDENT," suggests that the turn of events was actually fate, rather than a random mishap. The idea of fate is continued with the arrival of the "hearse-like automobile" and the three men who allude to three symbols of death, the undertaker, the grim reaper, and his silver stallion. The Misfit's appearance is rather surprising since it does not reflect his reputation. Described to be wearing spectacles "that gave him a scholarly look," the The Misfit is awkwardly dressed with "red and thin" ankles that make him seem weak rather than the horrifying figure that the grandmother had spoken of (FO, 1149). In fact, The Misfit is quite polite and honest in comparison to the family. The grandmother lies about how many times the car turned and how she immediately recognized The Misfit, June Star remains pompous, and Bailey turns on his own mother. Yelling at his family, "Hush! Everybody shut up and let me handle this," Bailey assumes "squatting in the position of a runner about to sprint forward," but does not move at all (FO, 1150). Throughout the story, Bailey ignores his mother and tries to control his family, but is eventually influenced by the grandmother. When finding himself in what he proclaims to be "a terrible predicament," Bailey still refuses to face the reality of the situation, representing the new South' s desperate attempts to control its destiny against all influences of the past (FO, 1151).

Once the grandmother realizes that danger that she is in, she immediately begins to try and save herself. Contrary to her ideas about The Misfit before, the grandmother tries to manipulate The Misfit by telling him, "I know you're a good man. You don't look a bit like you have common blood" (FO, 1150). Ironically, the grandmother tells The Misfit that he could be honest if he tried, and yet she herself is not. Clearly the grandmother is self prideful, as she still views herself as superior in morality to The Misfit, in spite of her words about his being a good man. Likewise, instead of praying herself, she tells The Misfit that he should pray. The Misfit, however murderous he may be, has very strong and well thought out ideas on religion, specifically on Jesus. The Misfit believes only what he can experience and see, and cannot accept faith without fully understanding it, unlike the grandmother's superficial spirituality. However, this does not change the fact that The Misfit does not believe and it is his lack of faith that brings sudden realization and clarity to the grandmother, as the sins of The Misfit lead her to understand her own sins. No longer prideful, the grandmother reaches out to The Misfit as one of her own children, showing her forgiveness and understanding that everyone is capable or redemption and allowed into eternal salvation, a key idea in O'Connor's works (RC, 71).

The Grandmother's words illustrate O'Connor's belief in the moment of clarity, realization, and heightened spirituality that comes in the moment before one's death. The violent death of the grandmother shows the intensity of the power of her words and faith against the force of disbelief of The Misfit, in a sort of fight against evil. In the end, the grandmother is shown lying "with her legs crossed under her like a child and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky" illustrating her peace as a child of God, and showing that redemption is possible and in death, there is salvation