I enjoyed the short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". The first thing that drew me into this story was obviously the title. The title fits very well into my life and I agree one hundred and ten percent! I good man is very hard to find indeed. I started reading the story thinking, "hmm...maybe there is some hidden trick in here or something that will lead me to a good man, or at least to bait em' in, then I can trap em'" (that is a bit of sarcasms for those who don't know me). Then I realized, if there was some hidden trick in this story, A LOT more people would know about it don't you think. So, as my dream of finding my "dream man luring technique" vanished, I still continued to read.
What kept me intrigued while reading this story was definitely the irony throughout it. As you read you start to think of random pieces that MAY be a hint to something else later in the story. Or at least I do. :) Once you realize one bit or irony, you are determined to find out everything else that could be ironic. Then, before you know it you have finished the story, are putting together pieces of irony, and you think you have this whole story figured out. That is until someone else brings up something you didn't realize and you find yourself in this vicious circle of reading and rereading the story searching for those pieces of irony that you missed.
Personally, I found the fact that, the one person that the grandmother wanted to keep away from her family was the misfit, which turns out to be one of her sons. I found that very odd, yet at the same time...IRONIC! Also, the fact that after they wander off onto this unpaved road, looking for a house that is not even in the state, they get into a car accident. IRONICALLY, after crashing they all end up being killed by the misfit. Ironic?....YES INDEED! :)
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Heather,
I agree with you (and the others who have also commented similarly) that this story employs "irony" as a key literary device. What I find most interesting about your entry is not simply the irony you notice in the story, but also the irony of your experience in reading the story. It's interesting to consider your expectations for this story: "I started reading the story thinking, "hmm...maybe there is some hidden trick in here or something that will lead me to a good man..." Obviously, this expectation was not met, as this story does not deal with "a good man" in the way you were thinking.
This gets me thinking...it might be fun to do some random interviews with people and try to find out what that phrase (a good man) means...I wonder if ANYONE would define a good man similarly to O'Connor?
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