Finding Mercy in A Good Man is Hard to FindIn "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Flannery O'Connor represents the his writing style very accurately. He understands his “themes and methods—comedy, violence, theological concern—and thus makes them readily and unambiguously available” (Asals 177). At the beginning of the story O'Connor represents the theme of the play by describing the typical grandmother. O'Connor then goes on to include the violent aspect by inserting the Misfits into the story. At the end of the story the theme changes to a theological concern as the focus is on the grandmother's testimony. As the themes change throughout the story, so does the reader's perception of the grandmother. At the beginning of the story, the grandmother's negative characteristics are revealed. She is described as a very self-centered person. Grandma is very persistent in doing what she wants. He seems to be very insensitive to the feelings of other family members. He constantly tries to convince the family to go to Tennessee rather than Florida. He also rebelliously took the cat with him on the trip when he knew others would object. Because of her selfishness, the family had to take a detour to stop to see the house she insisted on visiting. The grandmother is not only portrayed as selfish, but she is also very annoying. He talks from the moment they leave the house until the accident. He constantly talks about the scenario or tells a useless story. He apparently has good intentions to break the tension between family members, but his intentions ultimately fail. Instead of easing the tension, it makes everyone agitated... middle of paper... maybe this time he will have a conscience. According to O'Connor, the reader understands that the story is "'something more than the account of a family murdered on the way to Florida'" (Asals 178). Instead, the story is the tale of a woman showing mercy to a man who does not deserve her grace. Works Cited Asals, Frederick. "In 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.' Rpt. in Literature: reading fiction, poetry, theater and essays. 4th ed. Ed. Robert Di Yanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 177-78. O'Connor, Flannery. "A good man is hard to find." 1955. Literature: reading fiction, poetry, drama and essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert Di Yanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 193-203.---. "In 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.' Rpt. in Literature: reading fiction, poetry, theater and essays. 4th ed. Ed. Robert Di Yanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 175-76