2. Review…
What are the characteristics of Southern Gothic/Grotesque literature?

4. O’Connor’s Peacocks
O’Connor is said to have had over 40 peacocks at her home in Milledgeville, Georgia. Their farm came into her family in the early 1930’s and was known as Andalusia Farm.
“O’Connor was aware of the tradition of seeing peacocks as symbolic of pride, of looking at a peacock and seeing it as ridiculous because it had such a high opinion of itself. It had ugly parts it was trying to cover up. It’s such a mix of what Flannery loved of the grotesque and the beautiful.”
Mythology embodies peacock tail feathers as eyes, which is an important motif to follow in O’Connor’s writing.

6. Things to Watch For in O’Connor’s Writing
Characters with an obsession with the past, especially life before the Civil War.
A general and sometimes rose-colored nostalgia for things to be as they once were.
A strong sense of place and heritage.
Battlegrounds, homesteads, land and the history, plantations, and the families tied to them, etc.
Appearance vs. reality
A distinct break between the old South and the new South, with critical, anti-romantic views of the old South
Religious references to Catholicism & the idea of grace

7. Road Trip!
In the 1950s, the US highway system was just beginning to take shape, and family sedans were just beginning to reach the middle class.
The railroad system was in decline for domestic travel, and air travel was still too expensive for most.
As a result, family road-trip vacations soon followed.
Although the family in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" lives in Atlanta, their journey to Florida takes them along the relatively new highways of the 1950s, including rural country roads.

12. O’Connor’s Writing Style
Characterization Dark humor
Disturbing characters Religious allusions
Color archetypes Attention to setting
Foreshadowing Imagery
Symbolism Irony
Simile/Metaphor Motifs (eyes)

13. Be on the lookout for… Eyes Weather Setting
Ominous objects that foreshadow events
Racism & elements of the “Old South” vs. “New”
“Good” characters
The grotesque
The idea of being “saved” or achieving “grace”

15. O’Connor Additional Reading
Ones = “The River”
Twos = “A Stroke of Good Fortune”
Threes = “A Temple of the Holy Ghost”
Fours = “A Circle of Fire”
Volunteers = “The Displaced Person”

16. Discussion Groups In groups of 8-9.
Refer to the text. Keep giving it back to the choices of the authors- Faulkner & O’Connor.
Once you’ve covered my questions/prompts, you can move on to the ones in your reading or any other ones that you would like to discuss.
Stay on topic and discuss the stories.

18. Discussion Questions - Faulkner
1. What characteristics of the Southern Gothic genre do you see in “A Rose for Emily”?
2. What techniques do you see at work in the short story? What specific choices do we see Faulkner making and why does he make those choices?
3. What key ideas do we see at work here? What techniques does Faulkner use to show us his big ideas?
4. The story is told by “we”. Who do you imagine this narrator to be? Young or old? Male or female? What is their attitude toward Emily? How is this represented by their calling her “Miss Emily”?

19. Faulkner on “A Rose for Emily” 1955:
I feel sorry for Emily’s tragedy; her tragedy was, she was an only child, an only daughter. At first when she could have found a husband, could have had a life of her own, there was probably someone, her father, who said, “No, you must stay here and take care of me.” And then when she found a man, she had had no experience in people. She picked out probably a bad one, who was about to desert her. And when she lost him she could see that for her that was the end of life, and there was nothing left, except to grow older, alone, solitary; she had had something and she wanted to keep it, which is bad- to go to any length to keep something; but I pity Emily. I don’t know whether I would have liked her or not, I might have been afraid of her. Not of her, but of anyone who had suffered, had been warped, as her life had been probably warped by a selfish father. The title was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was a woman who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a solute…to a woman you would hand a rose.

20. “A Rose for Emily”
How does the previous information confirm or change your interpretation of any part of the story?

21. The Grandmother-O’Connor
How do we see the theme of appearance vs. reality through the characterization of the grandmother?
Why is the story partially told from her point of view?
What does the grandmother's use of the words, “cute little pickaninny” suggest about the racial views she holds?
How does the grandmother represent the values of the Old South? How does O'Connor use the grandmother to distinguish between the "Old" and "New South"?
What is symbolic about the fact that the "phantom" plantation is just a figment of the grandmother's bad memory?

22. “A Good Man…”
1. What is your impression of the family dynamic? Are they a loving, caring family? Why or why not?
2. Were there any characters in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” that are likable? Why do you think Flannery O’Connor decided to make them that way? Explain.
3. What kind of person is the grandmother? Is she as good as she would like everybody to believe?
4. What is a “good man” in this story? Why do you think the title of the story is, “A Good Man is Hard to Find?”
5. Why does the grandmother care so much about looking like a lady? What other things are important to her?
6. What kind of character is the Misfit? What is your opinion of him? Is he your typical criminal?

23. What is a “Good” Man?
The definition as to what a “good” man is comes up again and again, and is a major theme in the story.
The label of “good” according to the grandmother means nothing close to good.
She says Red Sammy is a “good man” when Red Sammy let people buy gas on credit, meaning he was ripped off for being gullible.
She says The Misfit is a “good” man, when we know he is a murderer and a killer.

24. “You’re One of My Babies!”
Why did the grandmother say, “You’re one of my babies” to the Misfit? Is this actually true?
What is the grandmother’s epiphany? Why does she say what she says to the Misfit? What’s O’Connor trying to do with this moment?

25. “No Pleasure but Meanness”
The Misfit says in the middle of the story, “No pleasure but meanness.” At the end of the story, after he has killed the grandmother, he says, “It’s no real pleasure in life.”
What does this shift in his characterization show us about his encounter with the grandmother? What is O’Connor trying to do here?

26. Symbols-make note of this in the text
Grandma’s hat: Represents her misguided moral code. The hat falls apart during the story, symbolic of her actual moral compass.
The Car: The car carries the family and is controlled by the person inside. It is a shell representing the body of a person that carries the soul and mind. The crash is also symbolic of death.
The Sky: Throughout the story, reflects the state of mind of the grandmother. At first, the sky is full of clouds (her jumbled thoughts and faith), when she has her moment of epiphany and realization, the sky is cloudless, sunless and clear.

27. More Symbols
Dirt Road: The highway is the true path, or the correct path in life, but the dirt road represents traveling down the wrong path. It is also meant to foreshadow events to come.
The Woods: Represent death, fear, and the unknown. Everyone who goes out to the woods with the henchmen never come back. The woods are described early on as “mean”
Grandmother’s death: She was shot 3 times in the chest. Christ died on the cross and rose the 3rd day. She died physically, but was finally able to realize her faith and offer forgiveness to the Misfit by saying, “You’re one of my babies.” Only when she died was she truly able to see herself for who she was and realize her faith.