Essay about Religious Symbolism in A Good Man Is Hard to...

Religious Symbolism in the Grandmother and the Misfit Flannery O’Connor has long been criticized for her blatant incorporation of religious symbols into sinister, dark stories. In the short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find,† the dark and apathetic Misfit is said to portray, in an allegorical sense, a Christ-like figure. However, through the interpretation of the inversions of divine characteristics, his repulsion of Christ’s very existence, and the denial of any powers beyond the observable realm, we find that the Misfit is actually representative of the Anti-Christ. Religion symbolism appears often in â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find†; the first appearances of religious symbolism are presented with the speech of the grandmother. In her†¦show more content†¦This, however, is inaccurate because the Misfit is not actually a portrayal of Christ, but of the very thing Christ came to defeat – Satan. The Misfit is a symbol of the anti-Christ and is portrayed as such through the inversion of divine characteristics. As pointed by Marion Montgomery, â€Å"the devil she presents in her fiction is the devil Christ came to oppose, made articulate in a world largely given to him.† In the Bible, Jesus is a surrounded by little children, whom he loves. The Misfit is bother by little children, even stating, Watch them children, Bobby Lee, he said. You know they make me nervous (O’Connor 642). Michael O. Bellamy emphasizes that this â€Å"set of inversion is consistent with the Misfit’s entire personality† (200). When the Misfit is called â€Å"a different breed of dog,† this shows the inversion of the word God itself, and â€Å"demonology is based on inverting the sacred† (O’Connor 643, Bellamy 200). Moreover, â€Å"the Misfit is a self-imposed title,† which is representative of â€Å"the figure of that ultimate misfit of Christian o rthodoxy, Satan† (Montgomery 186). The emphasis on the Misfit’s alienation from society is show by the symbolism of the true misfit in Christianity. The rejection of Satan by God can be reversed to say that Satan rejects God, and thus the Misfit reject religion. Throughout the story, the Misfit is constantly in denial about the existence of God, the resurrection of Jesus, and the necessity ofShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Characters, Conflict, and Symbolism in ‚Äà ºa Good Man Is Hard to Find‚Äà ¹771 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of Characters, Conflict, and Symbolism in â€Å"A Good Man Is hard to Find† The story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is a fascinating story about a family traveling to Florida for a family vacation. The story’s main characters are the grandmother, the mother and a baby, the father Bailey, and the two children June Star and John Wesley. On this trip the family has a run in with the other characters The Misfit, Bobby Lee, and Hiram who are escaped convicts headed towards Florida. 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In the depiction of the grandmother the reader can visual see the woman sitting in the car waitingRead More Symbolism in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor1038 Words   |  5 PagesUse of Symbolism in A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor is a short story that depicts a familys vacation to Florida that turned into an abysmal tragedy when they met with the Misfit, a convict who escaped from prison. This story is meant to be interpreted as a parable, whereby OConnor made skilful use of symbolism to bring about messages such as the class-consciousness and the lack of spiritual faith that exist amongst human. Read MoreAn Analysis Of O Connor s A Good Man 941 Words   |  4 Pages6/03/2015: O’Connor’s short story â€Å" A Good Man Is Hard To Find† symbolizes a theme of religion which questions me to think how O’Connor was raised? In my intention of this story every character seems to play a key role of religion. As for the Misfit can be seen as Satan himself as he encounters the family and kills them all. Yet he does it so politely saying â€Å"he is not a good man†, and how he only shoots just 3 bullets into the Grandmother. This gives me a sense of how O’Connor is conveying a messageRead MoreComparison of Grandmother and the Misfit1089 Words   |  5 Pages5 Reference Billingsley, R. T. (2011). A good man is hard to find. New York: Gallery Books. Shmoop Editorial Team. (November 11, 2008).A Good Man is Hard to Find Symbolism, Imagery amp; Allegory. Retrieved March 16, 2012, from http://www.shmoop.com/good-man-hard-to-find/symbolism-imagery.html COMPARISON OF THE GRANDMOTHER AND THE MISFIT 2 The grandmother in â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is a manipulator. The first thing I learnedRead MoreSymbolism Is The Use Of Symbols To Signify Important Meaning1305 Words   |  6 PagesSymbolism is the use of symbols to signify important meaning to things. These symbols could be basically anything in which a meaning is more than just the literal context. Hawthorne has several uses of symbolisms in his stories. Symbolism was very popular literary device during the Romantic period, where the object embodied some sort of idea. â€Å"The symbolism of his works focused on isolation and guilt of the individual, the uncertainties of good and evil, and the continual hold of the past on the