Feminist Examination of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
The principles of the Feminist literary theory are based on “the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical ground (Ramya, 18).” Feminism proposes equality through the liberalism of women and opposition to the oppression, dependence, and subordination of them. “Feminist thought and practice analyzes the production of literature and literary representation within the framework that includes all social and cultural formations as they pertain to the role of women in history (“Literary Theory,” 1).”
The tenets and assumptions of this theory can be applied to the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” In the text, we can see the subordination of women role by a patriarchal authority. The identities of the women in the text are unknown, only the younger one has a name. They are the grandmother, the mother of the children and the young girl which is June Star. In the text, women in older generations have no name probably since they represent all women in past times that were literally invisible to their husbands and society. Three generations where two women appear without names as if this detail is not important. But things can change with younger generations and that’s why the younger girl has a name. So, the text is just reflecting how women felt their role was in society. “Feminist literary theories began by working on the images of women in literary texts. Generally feminist theory is divided into four stages or trends focusing on various gender based textual issues: (i) analysis of representation of women in male-authored texts (ii) Gynocriticism, “a uniquely female aesthetic and an alternative, women’s literary tradition” (iii) ‘gender studies’ (iv) Explorations of how racial, sexual and class differences among women expand previous models of gendered readings and writings (Ramya, 18).” “O’Connor reveals an undeniable feministic quality to her work. Though the methods employed by O’Connor, she illustrates the antiquated social system that she and many other generations of women had endured were certainly unorthodox by many feminists’ standards […] (Coghill, 110).”
Certainly, the Feminist literary theory can be used to interpret this text, we just need to read and review each paragraph and notice elements that relate to it. Let take for example a piece of the story. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the grandmother is worried about her appearance. She is worried about what others may think about her. She is worried about being considered a “lady.” At the same time, this character is so religious. In contrast, the mother of the children is a submissive person, takes care of the baby and children and obeys her husband. The only one that is always asking, curious, complains and is persistent with her ideas, is June Star, the younger of them. For example, she said, “We never have seen a house with a secret panel!” June Star shrieked. “Let’s go to the house with the secret panel! Hey Pop, can’t we go see the house with the secret panel! (O’ Connor, 1).” “Feminist literary is a complex, dynamic area of study that draws from a wide range of critical theories including psychoanalysis, Marxism, cultural materialism, anthropology, and structuralism (Ramya, 18).”
Now, interpreting this text according the theoretical lens of the Feminist literary theory, we can notice how women were considered in O’Connor’s time. Their voice was unheard, and they were oppressed. This is something that can be perceived considering that the female characters have no name, no voice. Only the young one. In general, the society is seen as a patriarchal society where men are the ones who give the orders and women obey. The wife of Bailey is a submissive character. She takes cares of the children and does what the husband says. Then, the idea of protection and dependence is there too. Bailey is the head of the family. What he says needs to be done. There was the wrong idea that women couldn’t take care of themselves. That idea along with the economic and social class were tied in the mind of people. For example, in the text says, “the grandmother would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he was a gentleman and had bought Coca-Cola stock when it first came out and that he had died only a few years ago, a very wealthy man (O’ Connor, 1).” The participation of women goes to a second degree when they are not able to speak by themselves. They just accept and justify actions. In the text, there is a part where the grandmother calls the Misfit “Because you’re a good man!” (O’ Connor, 1).” This action reminds us of women when they defend their kids or husbands even if they know they didn’t behave well. Generally, women who suffer abuse usually justify the behavior of their attackers as if they are good people and it must be the fault of themselves if they were attacked. But they were all good men? It seems, they are not. In certain moments, in the text the writer repeats and highlight in capital letters that “a good man is hard to find.” Even the title of this story is a reminder to us those good men are not easy to find on the planet.
When we analyze this story more deeply according the Feminist literary theory, we can see some relation. Writers that write about women “generally stereotypically represented either as ideal (virginal, beautiful, passive, dependent, and nurturing) or monstrous (whorish, sexually voracious, independent and dangerous). From these images, two sets of conclusions can be drawn.
(Ramya, 18). That happened with the character of the grandmother. If everyone has listened to Bailey and gone directly to Florida instead of listening her, the accident would not happen and everyone would stay safe and alive. There is the misconception that women only make mistakes or bad decisions, when both men and women make mistakes. Another theme that is present in the text is religion. The grandmother repeated, “If you would pray, ‘Jesus would help you’ (O’ Connor, 1).” In the 1950’s there were many aspects that ruled society, and religiousness was stronger then than now. To be considered a decent person, women needed to follow the requirements that the church established. The end of the story could not have been more heartbreaking for the grandmother who was killed with three shots. The number three that represents the Christian Trinity. The number three may be an allusion that at three in the afternoon Jesus supposedly died on the cross. And three, was the number of times that Judas denied and betrayed Jesus before he was killed on the cross. Similarly, the grandmother was killed by the Misfit. Supposedly, they were talking and he listened to her. But, he didn’t. He just waited to kill everyone and then kill her at the end. In the text, the grandmother dies and Bobby Lee, one of the criminals said that she was a talker, while the Misfit said, “She would of been a good woman if there had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life (O’ Connor, 1).” It meant if there was always a man who told her how to behave, rather than letting her have an opinion, then her final destiny would have been different.
Works Cited
Coghill, Sheila. “‘On the Subject of the Feminist Business’: Re-Reading Flannery O’Connor.” Flannery O’Connor Review, vol. 3, Jan. 2005, pp. 110–114. EBSCOhost, search-Ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=17908347&site=eds-live&scope=site Accessed August 1rst 2021
Literary Theory. 2021. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from: https://iep.utm.edu/literary/ Accessed August 1st 2021
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Atlanta, vol. 47, no. 11, Mar. 2008, pp.116–155. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=prf&AN=29993364&site=eds-live&scope=site Accessed August 1rst 2021
Ramya, C. “Feminism and Feminist Literary Theory: A Brief Note.” International Journal on Multicultural Literature, vol. 6, no. 2, July 2016, pp. 15–21. EBSCOhost, search-Ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=prf&AN=120828905&site=eds-live&scope=site Accessed August 1rst 2021
