"A good man is hard to find" by Flannery O'Connor and "A very old man with enormous wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Essay by laccaUniversity, Bachelor'sA, April 2003

download word file, 3 pages 2.2

Downloaded 201 times

Two Short Stories: A Comparative Commentary

The views that "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" expose about human nature does not make humankind look very pleasant. In fact, it depicts the reality of negativity one can project.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" is about a family who decides they want to move to Florida and along the way meet a murderer, known as The Misfit. The story is told through the grandmother who does not want to go to Florida. The grandmother is a selfish, stubborn old woman who will do and say anything to get what she wants. She lies to her son and his family about The Misfit heading to Florida because she has no desire to go. She lies and tells the children about a secret compartment in a house she wants to visit that is out of the way.

She does this so that the kids get all riled up and convince the father to go towards the house. The grandmother realizes halfway toward the house that it is located in a different state but does not say anything because she is afraid of looking like an idiot.

She does not care about anyone but herself and her son. This is seen when The Misfit's companions take the son and his family away to be killed. When the grandmother hears the shots, she only yells out the name of her son as if the others were nonexistent. When it was her time to be killed, she tries to convince The Misfit that he is a good man. She only does this so that he does not end up shooting her as well.

Stereotypically, if humanity were to be portrayed...