The Effective Use of Tone in Flannery OConnors A Good...

The Effective Use of Tone in Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard to Find Flannery OConnors short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, begins with a Southern family preparing to go on what seems to be a typical vacation. The story is humorous at first because the reader is unaware of how the story will end. The tone changes dramatically from amusing to frightening and plays an important part in making the story effective. The narrator starts the story giving background information about the grandmother and her son, Bailey. The narrator explains that the grandmother didnt want to go to Florida (320). Although a major conflict could result from her dislike of the familys choice of vacation spots, it does not. When†¦show more content†¦The narrator describes the mother as a young woman in slacks, whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green headkerchief that had two points on the top like a rabbits ears (320). This is when the humor begins. John Wesley, Baileys son, asks the grandmother, If you dont want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home? (320). June Star replies that She wouldnt stay home to be queen for a day, and goes on to say, She wouldnt stay at home for a million bucks. Afraid shed miss something. She has to go everywhere we go (320). Even though these statements from the children to their grandmother are disrespectful, they do descri be her character, as she was the first one in the car... the following morning (320). The story continues to have comical parts as the family continues traveling to Florida until the grandmother remembers of a time when she was young and decides she wants to visit an old home. She tells the children about a house and even lies to them and says that there are secret panels (324). They become very excited and Bailey decides to let them go see it and on the way there is when the tone and story line changes. The children yelled Weve had an ACCIDENT! and the reader is not sure what will happen next. Shortly after the accident, when the big black battered hearse-like automobile pulls up to assist the family and the grandmother recognizes one of the occupants as the Misfit, the toneShow MoreRelatedIdentify Irony in Flanners Oconnors a Good Man Is Hard to Find1421 Words   |  6 PagesThe Irony in Flannery O’Connor’s Irony is a significant rhetorical technique used in demonstrating a condition which is conflicting or expression whereby the result is the exact opposite of what is anticipated. This device of literature creates absurdity in the story according to its tone. Irony has an element of indirectness hence making the writing interesting to the reader. In the story of Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† Irony has aided deeper comprehension and understandingRead MoreQuestions for Critical Thinking1690 Words   |  7 PagesQuestions for Critical Thinking A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor 1) What is the grandmother’s attitude toward the South as opposed to the rest of her family’s attitude, particularly her grandson’s? How do you account for the difference? In the short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† the grandmother’s attitude toward the South is that the â€Å"old South† was better than the current South. For example, in paragraph 14, John Wesley, the grandson, states â€Å"Let’s go through GeorgiaRead MoreWriting and Research Paper2935 Words   |  12 Pagestutoring at our tutoring centers (Stafford, Alief, and West Loop) or our electronic tutoring services. Signs will be posted once the HCC live tutoring hours have been established. On-line tutoring services include AskOnline and mycomplab.com. You will find the AskOnline tutoring icon on the HCC homepage for students. More information about the on-line services will be available once the semester gets started. Open Computer Lab You have free access to the Internet and word processing in theRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesresolved is one within the protagonist’s psyche or personality. External conflict may reflect a basic opposition between man and nature (such as in Jack London’s famous short story â€Å"To Build a Fire† or Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea†) or between man and society (as in Richard Wright’s â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man†). It may also take the form of an opposition between man and man (between the protagonist and a human adversary, the antagonist), as, for example, in most detective fiction. Internal