Death, the Admission Price of Pretenders Religion defines people by giving guidelines, which they should follow, while living their lives. Within religion there are two different types of people, the pretenders and the “true” followers. Pretenders are people that call upon God only when needed, unlike those who truly follow their religion on a serious basis. A “true” believer is one who full-heartedly worships the spirit of God and puts God into their daily routines. These people influence others as their actions help to shape society into what it is to become.
As times continue to change, religious views still have great affects on multiple societies. An apologist is a person who makes a defense in a speech or writing of a belief or idea. Flannels O’Connor is an example of an apologist because one can look at her background, to help understand the message she portrays within her stories. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, O’Connor was a “true” religious believer. O’Connor was not only born in one of the states that lies within the “bible belt”, where religion plays a large role, but she was also enrolled in parochial schools throughout her holding.
These schools and societies in which she lived greatly shaped her thoughts and beliefs. O’Connor uses these beliefs and ideas, which were outlined throughout her lifetime, to display an image within her stories. Flannels O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is a story that is shaped by the role of religion in the character’s everyday life. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a story about the troubles a family encounters on a trip to Florida. As the story begins, the Grandmother warns the family of an escaped felon, but the family sees her as a nuisance and ignores her remarks.
The family embarks on their Journey, and eventually runs into the escaped felon, named the Misfit. The Misfit then kills off the family one by one and ultimately shoots the Grandmother in the chest. While the Grandmother is awaiting her turn to die, she turns to religion and attempts to have a moment of redemption. Though it is seen that she succeeds in this moment of redemption, the Grandmother still paid the ultimate price and died for her sins. Though the Grandmother reaches out to God for help in a time of need, she is a pretender in religion as she consistently sins and doubts faith in times of great need.
The Grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is a religious pretender, as she consistently sins. One of the Grandmother’s first sins is when she shows pride. The Grandmother shows pride when it is stated that, “The mother still had on slacks and still had her head tied up in a green kerchief… In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once she is a lady’ (O’Connor, 398). This was when the family first departed on their trip. The Grandmother put her looks over everything as she saw her pride and dignity as more valuable than what the family as going to encounter.
Another sin that the Grandmother commits would be the act of being self-centered or selfish. The Grandmother acts selfish at the beginning of the story when, “She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and seen was seizing at every chance to change Baileys mind” (O’Connor, 396). This was an instance where the Grandmother did not want to go to Florida because she wanted to visit old relationships she had once had in the past. The Grandmother’s self-centered actions continue throughout the story and eventually effected the situations that the Emily faced.
These sins that the Grandmother commits help to prove that she is a pretender in religion. The Grandmother also proves that she is a pretender in religion as she shows doubt and loses faith in her belief in religion. During the climactic scene when the Misfit is about to kill the Grandmother, she begins to contemplate whether she believed in many of the different religious principles. The Grandmother shows disbelief in her religion when she states, “Maybe Jesus] didn’t raise the dead” (O’Connor, 408). This shows that as she sits anticipating death, she begins to ear what is ahead of her and she doubts what she was taught within her religion.
The Grandmother shows signs that she is also beginning to lose faith when she , … I’ll give you all the money I got! ” (O’Connor, 408). This occurs when the states ” Grandmother is awaiting death and she completely loses faith as she gives up on praying for her life and begins to try to bribe the Misfit with all of the money that she has to offer. The Grandmother’s doubt and loss of faith in religion reveal that the Grandmother is a pretender in religion, as she abandons religion when faced with death.
There are many different critics that attempt to decipher the meaning of O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Critic David Allen Cook uses “A Good Man is Hard to Find” to describe the relationship between violence and the truth that pretenders must discover. Cook writes, “The literary works of Flannels O’Connor often contend that religious belief can only be consummated by direct confrontation with evil, and for those uncommitted and unprepared, tragedy seems inevitable. For Schooner’s religious “pretenders” a moment of religious grace – a revelation of Truth – often does come, but at a devastating price” (1).
The Grandmother is seen as the character that is the pretender in this story as she pays the ultimate price, with death. The Grandmother is a pretender as she avoids religion during times of need and sins multiple times throughout the story. Though she was confronted with death, it seems that she had a revelation. She finally realizes that she is a sinner and she must accept religion, and religion will accept her as she dies. Cooks quote greatly applies to the character of the Grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, who dies after a moment of grace with religion.
Flannels Schooner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, is a story that illustrates the role of religion within a southern lifestyle. The Grandmother is a major character that has religion influence her character greatly throughout the story. At first the Grandmother is talked about as a self-centered nuisance, and as the story progresses it becomes clearer that she is a religious pretender. In the end when first faced with death, she crumbles and begins to doubt her faith. Then she has a revelation, where she realizes that she is a sinner and that she must accept the role of religion and God will accept her in return.
