Mankind's Mocking Moral Code in A Good Man Is Hard to Find

As children, many people are taught about the moral code of mankind. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Do not lust, kill, steal, or hurt others the list goes on and on. Whether this code originates from religion, unique experiences, or personal judgment, it exists, and it affects the way many people live. The story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, although it represents many different things, is designed to make people rethink their own personal moral code.

Flannery O’Connor does an excellent job of forcing people to think about their own personal beliefs, evaluate if they are really living up to the standard that they would like to be, and decide what it actually means to be a good man or woman. Each character in this story represents a different aspect of the moral code, but the family, as a whole, represents a means to mock the moral code of mankind. The Grandmother in the story, A Good Man in Hard to Find, represents the prejudiced and hypocritical ways of mankind.

She passes her judgment onto others freely, and she never withholds her thoughts no matter how racist or rude they might be. She frequently criticizes the mother of her own grandchildren, stating that she has the face of a cabbage and that she has failed to help her children ”be broad” (O’Connor 471). She especially passes judgment on the way people dress, and thinks of herself as “a Lady” because she dresses in fancy apparel.

Get quality help now

Bella Hamilton

Verified

Proficient in: A Good Man Is Hard To Find

5 (234)

“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Her thoughts are rather ironic. She never looks at herself in a clear light. This is a woman who is dishonest, judgemental, and selfish. In the end, her attributes of a “lady-like“ manner indeliberately leads to the murder of her family. The character of The Grandmother, in terms of decent human beings, represents the way each person views themselves For different reasons, many people think that they are good people.

Often times these reasons, (caring for children, dressing fancy, being religious, etc…) do not actually make them so. The children represent how teaching a personalized moral code can negatively affect youth. These children are naughty and rude to everyone around them, including their own parents. They scream, kick, fight, and sass mouth in order to get what they want when they want it. This demonstrates the way that teaching a child personal beliefs affects them. The Mom and Dad were never shown disciplining or teaching their children what was morally correct, they let the kids run themselves (and especially their mouths) wild. In this family, the things that mattered did not include being polite or nonjudgemental, and it shone brightly through the children. The small baby represents the way that innocent children are brought into families and molded to the family’s personal moral code the family as a whole is not beneficial to anyone except for themselves.

By creating such a specific family dynamic, O’Connor creates a means to make people look at their own families and wonder what good they are doing in the world. One of the greatest ways to get people to reevaluate themselves as human beings is to create something that they can relate to, and then make it flawed. It is fairly easy to relate to the family in the story. Every person creates their own path in life through their choices, and most of the choices people make are based off of their own, personal, moral code. It is important to remember that every person’s moral code is different, O’Connor, in the story The Lives of the Dead, was alluding to the fact that there may or may not be an exactly correct set of moral laws for mankind to follow, but frequent and personal evaluation, something that no one in the family ever did, can make all the difference.