Introduction
Literary elements or techniques offer a writer the opportunity to convey his or her message to the audience and help them to think critically about the story and its application. Effectively, the techniques allow the author to develop a powerful story for his or her audience (Roane, n.d). For students, literary analysis allows them to have a critical evaluation of the works done by writers and encourages them to nurture critical thinking skills and attributes. In one of his fine short stories, Flannery O’ Connor uses literary elements to deliver a timeless piece of literature with the title, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Imperatively, the literary devices employed by O’ Connor in the story are unique but have been used in most of his stories (Curtin, 2015). In this argumentative essay, the article concurs that O’Connor has written a timeless piece of literature by effectively employing literary elements that shall be discussed. These elements include symbolism, imagery and characters.
Literary elements
According to Netolicky, (2016 ), the use of literary elements allow the development of a story in the most effective way as the reader remains thrilled, captured, and engaged in the flow of events. A reader can identify with the main characters, sympathize with their predicament, and get engrossed in the entire situation (Coulter & Smith, 2009) . Symbolism is a literary device that allows the author to connect with the audience by the use of an idea or something that is greater than the object or situation itself. O’ Connor succeeds in using symbolism to get her audience a deeper meaning of the story (Roane, n.d). For instance, she uses the eyes of the characters to indicate their mindset. The Grandmother’s eyes are bright as she listens to “The Tennessee Waltz” on the jukebox while Bailey’s eyes are “blue and intense” as he attempts to argue with The Misfit before he is killed in the woods. The author describes The Mother’s and June Star’s eyes as “glassy” when they hear the gunshots as Bailey and Wesley are killed. After killing The Grandmother, The Misft’s eyes are described as “red-rimmed, pale, and defenseless,” to emphasize the defenseless mindset of Misfit and his inability to find self-control from his criminal life.
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Another symbol used to get a deeper understanding of the situation is the sky (O'connor, 1977) . For instance, as the Misfit’s sidekicks carry out the killing of an entire family, the Grandmother is left alone with the Misfit and finds that she has lost her voice. Looking up the sky, there is nothing, no rain, no sun or cloud. All she could see around her is woods. Therefore, the author uses the sky to symbolize the state of the character’s mind. The sky is clear and empty, and inside the grandmother’s mind, there are only misery and emptiness on what she has done to the family. The cloudless sky is a symbol of emotional state and emptiness after what had happened to the family. The automobile is another symbol in the story as it represents life’s journey (O'connor, 1977) . The car, like the human body that carries the soul, carries the family to its ultimate destination. According to O’ Connor, life is always headed in one direction, but ends up entirely somewhere different. The woods symbolize death, reek of fear of the unknown. In the mind of the grandmother, she thinks of an old plantation near the woods, just like death that hovers around us all the time (O'connor, 1977) .
Imagery is another powerful literary deice that O’Connor uses in the story to give it a timeless reference. Imagery denotes to the mental pictures that we form when reading a story and it allows readers to get a deeper artistic understanding that an author seeks to pursue for the audience. Of particular interest in the story is the use of animal imagery (Curtin, 2015). For instance, the story mentions an array of animals like the monkey, a cat that is part of the family, a parrot a pig and a cloud of cows among others. For example “the grandmother’s valise looks like the head of hippopotamus” while her touch on one of Misfit’s should causes him to spring back “as if a snake had bitten him.” The author uses animal imagery to create attention to the animalistic traits o human beings, especially the characters in the story. It suffices to note that like the animals, the characters do not reflect the current situation. The grandmother is preoccupied with the past and cannot bring herself to face uncomfortable realities. She reminisces about the past, to the extent of leading her family to death because of the obsession to see an old plantation house (Curtin, 2015). The death of the family members by the Misfit’s gang gives a description that is so appalling and horrific. O’Connor writes of the world where men have become beasts and until they find divinity, they can be either monsters or remain men. For instance, the Misfit is a depiction of a man who is in a conflicted world of beasts and men ( O'connor, 1977) .
Characters in a story represent people, places or things with humanistic features and can carry out human actions or activities (Roane, n.d). The depiction of the Misfit underscores the title of the story. The Misfit’s character shows that all the characters in the story are not good. For instance, the grandmother fights to have the past with her while Red Sammy Butt questions the trust that exists among people today (Curtin, 2015). However, the grandmother shows no good when her obsession leads to the destruction of the entire family yet she fails to achieve what she wanted (O'connor, 1977) . Bailey is a character that fights with the son to the detriment of the family; he loses control leading to the swerving of the car into a ditch. He does nothing and when the Misfit arrives, they cannot defend themselves (Curtin, 2015).
Conversely, the opposite argument is true. O’Connor’s use of literary elements fails to bring the story to its lively appeal to the audience. One questions her over use of animal imagery. Considering the number of animals mentioned in the story, a reader may be persuaded to believe that O’Connor majored on one theme in the story, portrayal of negative humanistic traits or characters (Jordan, 2005). For instance, the grandmother is vilified for her obsession that led to the killing of her entire family yet it was not intentional. O’Connor seeks to have her audience believe that human beings do not have positive values as her portrayal of their characters using animal imagery demonstrates (Jordan, 2005). Perhaps what she achieves is the creation of graphic relief for her audience that becomes captivated by the ordeal that the grandmother and the family encounter on their road trip to Florida.
Conclusion
It suffices to note that O’Connor employs various literary elements to bring out a creative story that captivates her audience. The use of the literary devices is an indication of a rich application by accomplished writers who seek to engage their audience and allow them to be thrilled through exceptional narration of their stories. There is no doubt the O’Connor achieves these aspects in her writing.
References
Coulter, C. A., & Smith, M. L. (2009). The Construction Zone Literary Elements in Narrative
Research. Educational Researcher , 38 (8), 577-590.
Curtin, D. (2015, December). The Use of Animal Imagery in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good
Man is Hard to Find” Accessed on October 5, 2016 from http://www.thecampion.com/the-use-of-animal-imagery-in-flannery-oconnors-a-good-man-is-hard-to-find/
Jordan, M.M (2005). Flannery O'Connor's Writings: A Guide for the Perplexed. Winter, Vol.47,
No. 1. Accessed on October 5, 2016 from https://home.isi.org/flannery-oconnors-writings-guide-perplexed
Netolicky, D. (2016). Using literary metaphor and characters as structural and symbolic tools.
Narrative Inquiry , Vol. 25 , No.2, pp.264-282.
O'connor, F. (1977). A good man is hard to find: And other stories . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Roane State Community College (n.d). Literary Analysis: Using Elements of Literature.
Accessed on October 5, 2016 from https://www.roanestate.edu/owl/elementslit.html
