How Ironic

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

I have two favorite things in this story, the irony and the foreshadowing.  In the beginning of the story the grandmother does not want to go to Florida.  She is desperately trying to change her sons mind on the destination because she wants to go to Tennessee.  One of the ways she tries to persuade her son is by saying “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it.  I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did.” The ironic thing is the grandmother is the one that leads them to The Misfit.  She couldn’t talk her son into going to Tennessee where they would not run into The Misfit but she talks him into going to this house and in the end she leads them to The Misfit. 

In the beginning of the story I feel as if it is more carefree and O’Connor allows the story to have a tone of humor and it’s relaxed.  However; when they get into the car accident I feel the tone turns dark.  Right after the accident June Star is disappointed because she says “But nobody’s killed.”  Be careful for what you wish for because she gets her wish when the whole family is killed. 

Bailey says “we’re in a terrible predicament! Nobody realizes what this is.”  When he said this I felt as if it could go two ways.  In one direction he could be talking to The Misfit saying are you going to help us?  What is going on?  Is he still clueless at this point?  Or is he saying this to his family saying we need to work together to get out of this situation or they are going to kill us?  Still Bailey does nothing but walk away holding his sons hand and yelling back to his mother of all people saying “I’ll be back in a minute, Mamma, wait on me!”  Again is he still clueless?