A good man is hard to find

Question

Flannery O'Connor's Stories

A good man is hard to find

There’s a strange passage early in the story concerning a “Negro child” (the paragraph begins “’In my time…’”). What’s wrong with this incident? Why is it included in the story?

Asked by Mo D #900311 on 5/2/2019 5:12 PM

Last updated by Aslan on 5/2/2019 6:28 PM

Answers 1

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Answered by Aslan on 5/2/2019 6:28 PM

I think there is a sense of irony here. Grandmother longs for a time of decency and good manners yet makes derogatory remarks about a Negro child she sees. She calls him a "pickaninny," which is a disrespectful term used to refer to African-American slave children. I think this illustrates the hypocritical values of the older generation.

Answers 1

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