Pride is considered to be one of the seven “deadly sins” in traditional Christian morality. Flannery O’Connor’s two short stories “Everything that Rises Must Converge” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are both concerned with the humiliation of the haughty and the humbling of the proud. The Christian Theological concept of “Grace” or the unconstrained and apparently causeless redemption of individuals through God’s mercy is also a significant part of the stories; this is depicted in the stories as a rather sudden turn of events that makes clear the powerlessness and impotence of humans and the insignificance of their desires, dreams and pretentions.
Flannery O’Connor’s stories feature characters that are similar in many aspects, facing different situations. The Grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Julian’s Mother in “Everything that Rises Must Converge” are similar in a number of ways. Both women remain nameless in the stories; the grandmother is referred to throughout as “grandmother” or “the old lady”. Her son refers to her once as “Mamma” and “The Misfit” refers to her as “Lady”, but her real name never comes up. Similarly, Julian’s mother is referred to as “Julian’s mother” throughout the story, she mentions the names of two families, the Godhighs and the Chestnys but it is not said which of the two she belongs too. Both the characters are old females belonging to an earlier generation of the American South. Both are depicted as belonging to families that were once prominent in the South but are now living in reduced circumstances.
The grandmother recalls the plantation houses of her youth and Julian’s mother recalls the palatial mansions of her ancestors. Despite their present poverty, both wish to appear genteel by dressing up and believe in the importance of a person “knowing who they are” i.e. their family origins. The grandmother and Julian’s mother are both living in the past; their social attitudes have not caught up with the changing times. Both the grandmother and Julian’s mother’s attitude toward African-Americans is a mixture of condescendence and hostility. The grandmother, seeing an African-American child refers to him as a “cute little pickaninny” (1049). Julian’s mother also refers to a four year old African-American boy as “cute” and tries to give him a penny in what she seems to regard as an obligation of her superior lineage and race. The overtly hostile side of the grandmother’s racism comes to fore when she tells a funny story about a “nigger boy” stealing her watermelon. Julian’s mother too is hostile toward African-Americans in general, she expresses the view that African-Americans were better off enslaved, expresses relief when she finds no African-Americans on the bus when she gets on and glares at her son in anger when he sits beside an African-American man.
Both characters experience “grace” in a violent manner before meeting death. The grandmother dies with her legs crossed in a childlike manner and her face “smiling up at the cloudless sky” (1058). Julian’s mother too reverts to her childhood, calling for her African-American nanny Caroline before she died. The grandmother and The Misfit from “A Good Man is Hard to Find” are examples of such diametrically opposite characters. Some of the differences between the grandmother and The Misfit are the obvious differences of sex, age and class. The grandmother is well dressed while The Misfit is not wearing a shirt. Another difference is the differences of temperament. The grandmother is used to controlling people by subtle manipulation and deception; she has her own way in determining the family’s holiday destination by planting ideas into the minds of her grandchildren. She has her own way in the issue of leaving her cat behind against the direction of her son by hiding the cat in her valise. The Misfit on the other hand does not require any subtlety in having in own way. He uses violence and brute force to make everyone do what he wishes them to do. The Misfit and the grandmother are both also different in the way they react at the chance to receive God’s grace and attain redemption. Through recognizing The Misfit as her own son, the grandmother embraces God’s grace, dropping her genteel pretentions and recognizing her kinship to all creature of God while The Misfit spurns God’s grace and kills her.
The fact that both stories are set in the South is made obvious, for example in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the family takes a trip to Florida and makes a detour toward Georgia. In “Everything that Rises Must Converge”, the fact that the story is set in the South becomes clear upon reading. One of the clues for this is the general racism of the elder generation, which is more of a Southern characteristic. Julian’s mother mentions to him his slave owning ancestors, slavery is also an institution more closely associated with the South. When Julian and his mother get on the bus, she is relieved that there are no African-Americans on board, when an African-American man sits next to a woman, she leaves her seat, this implies that the bus services have been newly integrated and the White people are not yet used to travelling on alongside blacks on the bus. This places the stories firmly in the mid 1950’s era in the South.
There is apparently no good man in any of these two stories and generally, a good man is actually hard to find. “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments” Mathew 19.16-17. Apparently, man has not been able to keep the commandments and continue to live sinfully and mercilessly in life and in the two stories. The only man who is close to being good in all the stories is Gimpel, in “Gimpel the fool”. He was considered a fool but actually lived the life of a pious man who was ready to give up everything for the good of another fellow. Many a time, good people turn to look foolish in the eye of the mean and wicked people that live on the surface of earth. In My Antonia, Antonia gave Jim Burden her ring and Jim thought that was the most stupid thing ever. Jim has no idea of being good to the extent of giving the most sentimental or valuable item in your life to another person. Antonia’s father, Mr. Shimerda was a good man in his life; he travelled miles away from his country to a new land to find greener pastures for the growing kids. Mr. Shimerda also promised to give his gun to Jim and it wowed him. Jim couldn’t understand why they always want to give out everything they have to him. That’s a sign Jim never give anything to any person in life with no strings attached. However, there are some sign of goodness in the Burden family because they helped feed their new neighbors, the Shimerdas, for some couple of times and they always kept Antonia closed to their heart. A good man is really hard to find in all the stories.
