The Grandmother 2
In the story A Good Man Is Hard To Find, the grandmother is shown to be a very self-centered person who thinks that the world revolves around her. The author makes this fact known right away. The grandmother "...didn't want to go to Florida... and she was seizing every chance to change Bailey's mind" (O'Connor 354). These first two lines show how selfish she is, meaning, she is only concerned with herself and has no reagard for others. The grandmother didn't care less about where Bailey and the rest of the family wanted to go on vacation. Her only desire was to go where she wanted to go. In a round-about way, she even goes so far as to deprecate her own son by saying he isn't a very good father if he chooses to take his kids to Florida. When the grandmother says, "I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it" (354), she's implying that she is a much better parent than Bailey is. She says this hoping that Bailey would feel guilty about his decision to go to Florida, and as a result of that guilt, get him to change his mind. Bailey"s reactions toward his mother reinforce the fact that she is domineering, even to the point of being intimidating, In the beginning of the story, Bailey i
The grandmother not only tries to manipulate Bailey, but she also tries to use this influence on her grandchildren as well. When the family is on the road and the grandmother starts talking about the old plantation she used to visit when she was young, she decides, this time, to prey on the curiosity of her grandchildren. In order to do that, she lies to them. " 'There was a secret panel in this house,' she said craftily, not telling the truth..." (358). The grandmother's obvious manipulations are her way of getting what she wants and of controlling other people to do what she wants. And it works. The children were so excited about the possibility of a hidden treasure behind this panel, that they began yelling and whining to their parents about wanting to see this secret panel, until finally, Bailey gives in. s shown to be nervous, as "He was sitting on the edge of his chair at the table..." (354) while his mother is trying to talk him into changing his mind about where they go for their vacation. He is also very passive around his mother, and it shows be the way he offers no resistance or objections to what she is demanding. When Bailey looks "straight ahead... His jaw was as rigid as a horseshoe" (358), he was obviously upset about the way the grandmother tries to control what is going on. She overlooks this obv
Some common words found in the essay are:
, grandmother didn't, grandmother tries, selfish controlling, jesus help, own son, secret panel,
Approximate Word count = 895
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
