Frailty of the Human Psyche Explored by Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor's stories remain popular because she creates colorful characters that help her drive her points home. In many ways, O'Connor delivers readers a different reality, which allows them to look upon characters in a different way, thus forcing them to look at humanity in a different way as well. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge," O'Connor presents extreme realities with extraordinary characters. Grandma, The Misfit, Julian and his mother appear to be one kind of person but in truth, they are different from these facades. They believe they are one way but readers see them as something else. The reader in these cases is the silent observer and O'Connor uses this situation well because this is how we are in many situations in everyday life. We simply watch others as they interact and this provides a clear picture of what is going on. Because of the utter blindness to self and unsightly behavior, "Everything that Rises Must Converge" emerges as superior.
People are blind to many things but nothing beats how people can lie to themselves about how they actually are. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor demonstrates with Grandma and The Misfit how people are not what they seem to be. O'Connor contrasts overbearing Grandma and The Misfit to show how these two outwardly different people are alike. Grandma is not intrinsically evil but she is controlling and pompous. While she comes amazingly close to figuring out what is wrong with what her personal beliefs, she does not quite get there and this makes her incredulous. She proclaims that she would never take her children in any direction...
She does not think ahead; she is convinced that age makes her wiser. In reality, she is selfish and, because she is old, feels she deserves to get her way. She is an eye-opening contrast to The Misfit but not in the wy readers might think upon first glance. When Grandma and The Misfit converse, their similarities emerge. They are both equally unyielding and willful. In her defense, Grandma tries to talk to The Misfit about religion but he tells her Jesus messed everything up. He says, "Jesus thrown everything off balance . . . It's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can -- by killing somebody of burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness" (O'Connor A Good Man is Hard to Find 1088). This scene reveals the evil side of The Misfit but it one thing readers remember about this story is how the Grandma cannot stay quiet. The Misfit is evil, no doubt, but he feels justified and feels no desire to change his behavior. There is no reasoning with some people and Grandma could not accept this. She believed in her version of the truth as much as The Misfit did. She sees herself as some kind of human savior but she is far from it because she cannot stop meddling. There is not always a happy ending and these two people demonstrate why some happy endings are simply impossible.
In "Everything that Rises Must Converge," O'Connor presents us with characters that are not what they seem and the amazing thing about them is how blind they are to their true selves. Julian's mother is prejudice despite what she thinks. She tells her son, "I've always had…
