Flannery O'Connor's body of work is seemingly counterintuitive. Here is a devout Roman Catholic obsessed with the flaws of believers and the joyous humanity of nihilism. Much of O'Connor's work is characterized as clumsy theopoetic work in which the central characters are often constrained both by their own theology and, more literally, locked in theological debate for a period of time. “Wise Blood” features an “anti-pastor” who attempts to found a “Church of Christ without Christ” stemming from a childhood fear of Jesus Christ. "Good Country People" features Joy, a staunch atheist and philosophy professor in theological debate with a fraudulent Bible salesman who, after stealing Joy's prosthetic leg, claims that her nihilism runs much deeper than his own. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is also a conversation about theology between the believer and the non-believer, the grandmother and The Misfit respectively. Except that's not the case. Respectively, of course. The grandmother, facing death at the hands of the homicidal Misfit, attempts to use her theology to save her own life, only for the Misfit to surpass her in theological knowledge at every turn. While the two have outspoken opposing theological positions (believer and non-believer), the Misfit knows the good book better than the old woman. For this reason, neither can be considered more “Christian” than the other. So where is the debate? What are the two positions that O'Connor places in the arena of thought? For the sake of argument, we will simplify their “religious character” to present them as equals in order to highlight their real difference in perspective: class. The grandmother, of course, is ultimately killed, along with her family. O'Connor has never been one for happy endings. Her theological judgments ultimately do not save her. The death of the family is an indictment not of faith, but rather of the false correlation between faith and a decent life – being “a good man.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “Look at the cemetery! » » said the grandmother, pointing this out. “It was the old family cemetery. It belonged to the plantation. The grandmother comes from old money, as we learn from this passage. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is a mid-20th century text, but it serves as a reminder that grandparental racism is not unique to modern times — not because his family wealth was built on the backs of slaves (although her flippant tone when she says that the plantation is now "blown away with the wind" certainly lacks respect for this particular atrocity) but in passing, her passing comments about the black children as they head towards Georgia. The grandmother despises the era in which they live, accusing her version of indecent people, Europeans, etc. It’s important to discuss framing for a moment here. Criticism and analysis of O'Connor's work focuses largely on the theological elements, and rightly so. So far, this essay presents The Grandmother as theologically ignorant, and primarily through a theological lens – however, this is not how she is presented in the story. In fact, theology isn't mentioned until the grandmother resorts to talking about Jesus Christ while begging for his life. The grandmother is presented as forgetful, selfish and classist. Likewise, the Misfit is introduced early on in the story as a savage, low-living criminal, and the grandmother thinks the same of him. The word she uses is “common", but only to beg for her life when she states that she "knows you [The Misfit] are a good man". You don't seem to have any common blood at all. I know you must come from nice people!' Of course, later the grandmother disavows this notion that "coming from nice people" means he must be a good person at heart when she recounts his shared upbringing and says that he "still has a luck” to be good. Through O'Connor's definition of both Grandma and The Misfit until they meet, we learn exactly what Grandma believes: upper class is good, lower class is bad. Everything else is just a facade, including faith. The grandmother is actually pushed to faith by The Misfit, but they both miss the mark theologically due to their societal position. The Misfit concedes that Christ accepts anyone considered “bad,” forgives them, and gives them eternal, unconditional love. Misfit further admits that he is a bad person, but that he might not have been if he had witnessed Christ firsthand. The phrase “She would have been a good woman if there was someone to shoot her every day of her life”. The grandmother feels entitled to be respected, she is a lady after all. This is emphasized in his actions and clothing, especially in relation to his daughter-in-law. Shown here, the grandmother "...made herself comfortable, taking off her white cotton gloves and placing them with her handbag on the shelf outside the back window..." (O'Connor 1), the woman is used to to certain comforts, and that has been his whole life. Times, of course, have changed, and even though she and her son's wife are in the same class, fashion has changed somewhat to disguise this. The mother wears “…trousers and always has her head tied in a green kerchief…” (1), compared to “…a navy blue straw sailor's hat with a bouquet of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print…”. This is important for the grandmother because “in the event of an accident, anyone who saw her dead on the highway would immediately know that it was a lady.” Even as a corpse, she would want to be noticed for her class. For the grandmother, there is a marked difference between a dead lady and a dead commoner. Additionally, the grandmother is very comfortable making judgments not only to her immediate family but also to passersby on the road, using racist slurs in addition to noting that black children on the side of the road do not don't wear certain clothes because they don't have any (although they're in Georgia during the summer, who wouldn't dress for the heat?). This is not to say that she ignores poverty, but she is more dismissive: she notes that it would "make it look good" as if poverty were simply an object of amusement. It's not nice, it's entertainment, it's funny for the grandmother and for the children. Grandma has a very narrow definition of “good.” She tells Red Sammy that he is “…a good man.” They talk about how times have changed, you can't trust anyone anymore, you always have to lock your doors, you escalate, etc. — the kind of talk that longs for a time when there were fewer intersections with the lower classes. “It’s hard to find a good man. Everything is terrible. I remember the day when you could leave and leave your screen door unlocked. No more. »The car ride to Georgia includes more of these sightings, but it's worth noting that the grandmother is excited for her grandchildren to see where she grew up. The grandmother appreciates this, obviously because she lived in a mansion. According to old southern money,.