Dissonance Paper
In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, dissonance is depicted through three main points. Dissonance is defined as lacking in harmony or consistency between people or characters. Dissonance often makes the reader feel uncomfortable, as it did in this short story. Dissonance is shown between actions, beliefs, and arguments. The three main points of dissonance in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are family, religion, and the character of the Misfit.
The first example of dissonance in the story is related to family. The characters portray their negative attitudes toward each other in such a way that is very obvious to the reader. The reader senses disrespect among the family members which is atypical for a family paradigm. For example, when the grandmother is trying to convince her son, Bailey, to not to go Florida but to go to east Tennessee, John Wesley, Bailey’s son, says, “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?” Then his sister, June Star, replies, “She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day,” and then later says, “She has to go everywhere we go,” (2). The disrespectful tone in which the children speak to the grandmother is hurtful to the reader. This is not a very common way for grandchildren to talk to their grandmother. Both June and John are disregarding other family members well being. Another example is when the family stops at The Tower, a local diner, and the owner’s wife asks June if she would like to be her daughter. June rudely says, “No, I certainly wouldn’t, I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks,” (7). Bailey and his wife do not say anything to June after this which shows a lack of discipline. The grandmother seems to be the only one concerned with the children’s behavior. Attitude is most seen through the grandmother’s actions throughout the whole story. She is extremely manipulative, selfish, and pushy. The first sentence of the story is...