The story " A Good Man is Hard to Find " by O'Connor Flannery details the encounters of grandmothers and her children, who travel for vacation to East Tennessee. During a family meeting, the family plans to visit Florida for the children's holidays. However, the grandmother convinces Bailey and his family to travel to East Tennessee rather than the planned destination (O'Connor, 1962). The grandmother confuses landmarks and puts the family in the middle of a forest, attacked and killed by robbers. In the story "Their Eyes were Watching God," Hurston Neale Zora follows the story of a young black woman, who marriage life is the center of controversy in society. Janie Crawford is first married to an older man, Logan, by her mother, who believes that the marriage would provide social security and wealth (Hurston, 1938). However, Janie does not love Logan and ends up escaping with another man, Jody. Despite being rich, Jody fails to treat Janie well by refusing to give her the freedom to interact with other people. Janie falls in love with Tea Cake, a younger man, and they get married when Jody dies. However, Tea Cake also dies from rabies after being bitten by a stray dog during a hurricane. Connectedly, this paper analyzes how Flannery and Hurston narrate their stories to bring out their intended meanings.
The first element of comparison in the two stories is the writing perspectives used by the authors. In her story, " A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor uses the omniscient third-person perspective, enabling her to understand the characters' thoughts and emotions throughout the film. O'Connor relies on this perspective to understand her characters' next moves, thus enabling her to update the audience on the reasons for such actions (O'Connor, 1962). For instance, she uses this POV to understand why the granny decided to wear a hat with flowers. In this case, O'Connor places herself as a third person observing both the physical and emotional process of the characters. After wearing the hat, the grandmother then placed flowers around it (Zhao, 2017). According to her thought process, the grandmother wanted the flowers to help rescuers identify her as a woman if an accident happened. Only through entry into the grandmother's emotional condition through the omniscient third-person perspective could the author understand why she took such an action.
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Similarly, Hurston's story, " Their Eyes were Watching God' relies on the omniscient third-person perspective. In this story, Hurston relays the reasons for her characters' actions and displays actions from an observatory perspective. By using the third-person perspective, Hurston can display all the actions taken by the characters without bias or any missed elements (Hurston, 1938). Through this perspective, the author can show how Janie returns to her home after enduring difficulties in her various marriages. The author's perspective also enables her to use the words that the characters said. Through this perspective, the author can invoke emotional attachment between the characters and the audience, whereby the latter can be part of the story (Johnson, 2016). For instance, when Janie explains to her friend how her husband died or divorced under difficult situations, the audience can understand the exact emotions felt in the story. Through this perspective, the author is also able to show deep familiarity with Janie's emotions. Furthermore, this point of view enables Hurston to be an abstract of Janie's challenges throughout her life.
Another key issue of comparison between the two stories is the primary style used by the authors in relaying their message. In her story, " Their Eyes were Watching God ," Hurston relies on the colloquial form of narrative. Most parts in the novel are derived from the Southern Black Americans dialect of the 20th century. This form of narration is first witnessed in the first dialogue line when Janie's neighbors are curious why she returned despite being married recently. In this case, one of the neighbors asks, "what she doin' coming back here in dem overhalls? Can't she find no dress to put on?" (Hurston, 1938). The whole novel is created using this form of dialogue from the characters, with Janie and her friend also using it. Instead of using Standard English pronunciations and spellings, Hurston decides to the colloquial language, giving her the freedom to present actions in their natural state (Johnson, 2016). However, the author also uses figurative language in her omniscient role to describe Janie and other characters. Unlike Hurston's story, O'Connor's " A Good Man is Hard to Find " uses realism. In this case, Hurston combines both Southern dialects with the Standard English language.
The two stories differ in terms of the application of foreshadowing and flashback techniques. Hurston's story is hugely built on the flashback technique, whereby the author narrates past events as part of telling the reasons for the current state of Janie (Hurston, 1938). In this case, when Janie returns home after the death of her husband, the author starts explaining the ordeals that led to her return. Hurston opens the story by showing the conversation between Janie and her friend, who comes to comfort her. At this stage, the author sets the stage by introducing the current state, then shifts to flashback, which helps readers understand the reasons for Janie's return and low emotional wellness. For Hurston, the whole story is set on the flashback story of Janie. In the end, Hurston only provides a brief conclusion statement, which affirms that Janie's life has to be difficult, as witnessed in the flashback version.
On the contrary, O'Connor uses both the flashback and foreshadowing techniques to relay her story. For instance, in the first scene where the family discusses the best place to visit, a foreshadowed fashion enables readers to understand why the grandmother wants the family to visit East Tennessee rather than Florida (O'Connor, 1962). The technique is also used in hinting about the possible accident that the family would encounter in their journey. While dressing, the grandmother places flowers on her hat, which would help rescuers identify her as a woman in case of an accident. Using the flashback technique, O'Connor relies on minor characters whose actions shape the bigger picture in the story. One of the main contributors to the flashback style in this story is the Misfit, who reflects on how he was jailed despite not committing any crimes.
The structure of the two stories can also be a criterion for understanding their narrative styles. In O'Connor's " A Good Man is Hard to Find," the main structure is traditional and linear in the plot (O'Connor, 1962). Here, the author relies on the foreshadowing technique, which helps readers understand the final resolution. On the contrary, Hurston's " Their Eyes were Watching God " relies on the frame context structure, whereby the story ends in the same context as it started (Hurston, 1938). In this case, the story ends with Pheoby and Janie sitting at the latter's house discussing the ordeals that led to her suffering.
Conclusively, Hurston's and O'Connor's stories show various similarities and differences in the application of narrative styles. The main similarity between the two stories is the authors' application of the omniscient third-person perspective throughout their stories. The application of this style enables the authors to understand the feelings and thoughts of their characters. However, the stories differ in structure and the application of foreshadowing and flashback techniques. Flannery relies heavily on foreshadowing, while Hurston builds her story through the lens of flashbacks.
References
Hurston, Z. N. (1938). Their eyes were watching God: a novel . Greenwood Press.
Johnson, B. (2016). Metaphor, metonymy and voice in Their eyes were watching god (pp. 205-219). Routledge.
O’Connor , F. (1962). A good man is hard to find . New English Library.
Zhao, Y. (2017). The Absurd Theme in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. International Conference on Economy, Management, and Education Technology.
