Life Forever Changed
English: Rue Principale in Aylmer, Quebec, Canada
Aylmer, Québec
Aylmer, QuébecIn the story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O' Conner a hard lesson is learned through the character of a grandmother to a murdered family that pleads to the killer for her life. The grandmother is described by the killer at the end of the story here, "she would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life" (338) By this the killer meant that it took a tragic event in order for her to understand herself. Throughout the story the grandmother saw herself as better than other people, and only at the end when facing death did she put herself to a lower level than someone. Another story in which the author uses a shocking or tragic event to impart a lesson or a truth is Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark". In this story the main character, Aylmer, learns a great lesson. The result of this event changes his life forever. I think the lesson that Aylmer learned is one that should be learned and read about. I also believe that many people are selfish and egotistical and only realize this when they are directly and adversely affected by such an event.
The main character of The Birthmark that learns a lesson is Aylmer. Aylmer is a scientist that by methods of science tries to remove a birthmark from his wife's face.
"... I have spent much thought upon the subject, I am convinced of the perfect practicability of its removal." (308) In this quote it shows that Aylmer has already planned for the removal of the birthmark prior to Georgiana's approval.
This also points out the fact that he is not doing it for his wife but rather for himself.