Symbolism and Irony
Flannery O 'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to find" and William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" both contain irony and symbolism. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by O'Connor uses symbolism while "A Rose for Emily" by Faulkner uses more irony.
O'Connnor uses symbolism and irony in several places throughout the story in "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The story starts with a road trip of Bailey family that shows irony with many symbols throughout the story, most of which involve death. For example, the family passed a large cotton field with about five or six graves and there are six members of the Bailey family. The graves are described as "fenced in the middle of it, like a small island" (499) and are showed when they are surrounded by the Misfit and his henchmen. Another important symbol that is shown is that the plantation house with six white columns after they pass the town of Toombsboro which suggest a tomb or a graveyard.
English: Emily Rose
English: Emily Rose
Film poster for The Exorcism of Emily Rose - Copyr...The most important symbol is that they travel down a dirt road that is full of hills and has ''sudden washes," (500) with sharp curves which is parallel to a road towards Hell. After the Baileys stop at an accident, a new chain of symbols occur. At first glance of the Misfit; he is described as a "big black battered hearse-like automobile" (501) with "a steady expressionless gaze" (501), which he represents death. While talking to the grandmother, the Misfit pointed his shoes to the ground and makes a hole, which looks like a burial. The Misfit's action of digging and covering a hole with his shows that the Baileys were about to die. With all the symbols in the story, it is easy...