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新疆农业大学教务处制

Abstract:

AGoodManisHardtoFindisaclassicshortstorybytheoutstandingAmericanfemalewriterFlanneryO’Connor.FlanneryO’Connorisgoodatexpressingthegrotesquethroughdescribingviolenceandatthesametimeexaminingthecharacters’perceptionofreligion.Inherbest-knownshortstoryAGoodManIsHardtoFind,itisobviousthatWorldWar

andreligionhavegreatinfluencesuponthepeopleinthatera.O’ConnorcreatestheMisfitandthegrandmotherandexhibitstheircomplexpersonalities.

KeyWords:

FlanneryO’Connor;

AGoodManIsHardtoFind;

complexpersonality

摘要：

《好人难寻》是美国杰出女作家弗兰纳里﹒奥康纳的经典短篇小说。

奥康纳擅长于通过暴力表现怪诞并同时检测人物对宗教的理解。

在她这部最著名的小说《好人难寻》里,不难看出二战以及宗教对于那个时代的人物性格有着深远的影响。

奥康纳创造了人物“老祖母”和“不合时宜的人”并描绘了他们的复杂性格来展现人之本性。

关键词：

弗兰纳里·

奥康纳；

好人难寻；

人物复杂性格

Contents

AbstractandKeyWords

1.Introduction1

2.TwoImportantFactorsinO’connorsStories2

2.1AmericanSocietyafterWorldWarII2

2.2O’connor’sChristianBackground2

3.ComplexPersonalitiesoftheMainCharactersinAGoodManisHardtoFind3

3.1Grandmother’sGoodness3

3.2Grandmother’sEvil4

3.3TheMisfit’sEvil5

3.4TheMisfit’sPursuit6

4.Conclusion7

Bibliography9

1.Introduction

Sinceitwasfirstpublished,AGoodManisHardtoFindhasbeenFlanneryO'

Connor'

sbestknownstory.Itisanunforgettabletaleabouttheconfrontationofafamilywithviolenceandsuddendeath.Itprovokesverydifferentreactionsinherreaders.Manyreadersandcriticsfinditgrotesqueinitsdepictionofdebased,repulsiveandusuallyunsympatheticcharactersandtheirspectaculardisplaysofviolenceorcruelty.Someappreciateitasablackcomedyforthisreason,whileothersreactwithdisgust.AGoodManisHardtoFind,asO'

smostpopularstory,oftenstandsatthecenterofdiscussion.

ManycommentatorssharedifferentopinionsofthethemeaboutAGoodManisHardtoFind.Generallyspeaking,theytalkaboutreligion,absurdity,andcoldness.Forsomecommentators,thetragedycausedbyMisfitisastoryaboutconvictionandredemption.AccordingtoHumphriesJefferson,Misfitsendsgrandmotherintotheheaventoreceivetheredemption（Jefferson,1986:

119）.Obviouslyredemptionisthethemeinthisfictionbutnottheonlyone,PaulsonSuzanneMorrowpointsout,readingcarefullyonthiswork,notonlythevalueofCatholicismbutalsothechangesofmodernphilosophyandhumanpsychologycouldbeacquired（Paulson,1988:

218）.ThelecturerDuZhiqingthinkswhatO'

Connorwantsistoletreadersseeclearlythatthereexistsabsurdityinthemoderncivilizedsociety（杜志卿,2011:

114-119）.Inthiswork,theabsurdityoflifeoftenmakesMisfitloseinanunknownterror,hebelievesonlyintheviolentandcrazywayofconfrontingthemessyworldthatpeoplecouldfindthesignificanceofexistence.Whenitcomestothecoldness,LongZhonglianholdsthatinthesocietywhichcentersonmoneyandmaterial,femalecharactersinO'

snovelareunawareoftheimportanceofspiritandexistence,butjustlivewithoutfaithandpassion（龙中莲,2008:

52-53）.

Fromtheangleofstructuralism,ProfessorHongZengliuholdstheopinionthatO'

Connorchangesthevisualpointandvisualanglebyusingtheantinomytobalancethedistancebetweenreadersandcharactersinthefiction,therefore,afurtherresearchisdoneonthepresentwesternsocietyandreligiousbelief（洪增流,2005:

63-64）.Hebelievestherearethreecouplesofdualantinomyinthefiction:

（1）Grandmother’sinnerheartandherbehavior.

（2）Grandmother’sandotherpersons’definitionaboutagoodman.（3）Grandmother’sandMisfit’sattitudetowardreligiousbelief.Thedualantinomyestablishesthethemeofthework.Fromthevisualpointofthepanoramaandthevisualangleofgrandmother,thestructuralismcontributestoabetterunderstandingofthethemeandplots.

TheabovecriticalreviewsonAGoodManIsHardtoFindhaveeffectivelyadvancedtheexplorationofthefiction,broadenedreaders’visionaswellasdeepenedreaders’comprehensionofit.Afterreadingandappreciatingtheiropinions,thewriterbelievestheremustbemanyothertopicsworthyofdiscussing,andthispaperwillconcentrateonthecomplexpersonalitiesofmaincharactersinthestory.

2.TwoImportantFactorsinO’Connor’sStories

Thisfictionisthecombinationofreligionandallegory,withsimpleplotbutrichanddeepmeaning.O’Connoroftenmakesherstoryhappeninthesouthcountry,withpeopleintheextremeenvironments,inwhichshowingthegoodnessandevilofpeople.InAGoodManIsHardtoFind,shetellsstoryseeminglyinaneasyandrelaxedtone,achattygrandmotherandherfamiliescomeacrossacriminalescapedfromprison.Infact,herstoriesaregenerallyelusive.Withouttheknowledgeofsocialbackground,especiallybackgroundonO’Connor’sChristian,itwillbeverydifficultforthereadertocomprehendambiguityinherwork.

2.1AmericanSocietyafterWorldWarII

TheWorldWarIIhasadeepimpactonthelifeofAmericanslivingintheSouth,afterWorldWarII,thereexistsspiritualcrisis.ThetraditionalWesterncivilizationvaluesystemhadbeenfallingapartandtheWar’smainimpactonpeopleisthelossoffaithandhope,peoplelivewithlonelinessanddespair.Afterthewar,mostyoungsoldierssurvivedbecameconfusedaboutthemeaningoflife.Theylosttheiroriginalfaithandhopetolife,andtheycouldn’tfindanybeautifulthing,theybecamedepressedandpassive.O'

Connorisdeeplyconcernedwiththevaluesanddirectionoftheyouthofhertime.ShebelievesthatChristisnolongerenoughofaprioritytothepeopleofhergeneration.AGoodManIsHardtoFindreprehensiveofherconcernforthepriorityandvaluesofthe1940.Charactersinthisfictionaretherepresentativesofthoseinthaterawhohavedreamsbuthavetofacethereality,theycan’tsatisfytheirneedsinpsychology,sotheyinclinetotakevariousactionseventheviolentwaytosatisfythemselves.Thegrandmotherinthefictiononcetellstheirchildrenaboutthegoodnessinthepast,feelsthebeautiesaredecliningnowadays（O’Connor,2011:

118）,itunavoidablymakesreadersthinkofthedegenerationofpeopleinmoney-orientedsociety,whichisfilledwithlonelinessanddisappointment.O’Connor’sworrycanbeobservedinthecollisionofgoodnessandevilinthefiction.

2.2O’Connor’sChristianBackground

O'

ConnorisaSoutherner,comingfromafamilywithdeeprootsinthereligion.Hergreat-grandparentshadbeensomeofthefirstCatholicstoliveinherhometown,andherfamilystoodoutinthepredominantprotestantsouth.SheattendedCatholicschoolandfrequentlywenttoMasswithherfamily.TheseexperienceshelpedhergreatlytobelieveinCatholicmysteriesanddivinity.In1943,O'

Connorsaid,“Belief,inmyowncaseanyway,istheoriginthatmakesperceptionoperates”（O'

Connor,1969）.ShealsoattributedherdesiretowritetoherCatholicism,writingonceinaletter,“IfeelthatifIwerenotaCatholic,Iwouldhavenoreasontowrite,noreasontosee,noreasonevertofeelhorrifiedoreventoenjoyanything”（O'

Connor,1969）.

ShecompletelyacceptstheChristianviewoforiginalsinandredemption（龙中莲，2010：

14）.She’dliketoconnecteverythingaroundherwithherfaith,shewriteswithasolidbeliefinalltheChristiandogmasinordertoshareherfaithwithreaders.O'

Connoralwayschoosestodepictredemptionthroughshocking,oftenviolentactionuponcharactersthatarespirituallyorphysicallygrotesque.Shethinkspeoplearelivinginthedarknessofsinsunconsciously,andtheylosetheirreligiousbeliefandliveinawastelandofreligiouscrisis（龙跃，2005:

82）.ShestatesthatthesubjectofAGoodManisHardtoFindis“theactionofgraceinterritoryheldlargelybythedevil”（O'

Connor,118）.Shetriestoportrayineachstoryanactionthatistotallyunexpected,yettotallybelievable（O'

Connor,118）,oftenanactofviolence,violenceofbeing“thethemesituationthatbestrevealswhatareessentially”（O'

Connor,113）,throughviolence,shewantstoevokeChristianmystery.Inhereyes,violencecanadjustpeople’sviewofthemselvesaswellastheirreligiousbeliefsandbringthemspiritualredemption.Thesecharactersinherstoriesshowtheirdisagreementsaboutsocietyandtheirlivesinvariousextremeways.

InO'

Connor’seyes,theworldofhumanbeingsishorriblyimperfect,oftenextremelyunpleasant,andgenerallyfunny.Whileinsuchadisgustingworld,thereexiststheactionofdivinegrace,whichistheultimatehopeforman.

3.ComplexPersonalitiesoftheMainCharactersinAGoodManisHardtoFind

InAGoodManisHardtoFind,agrandmotherwitharathersuperficialsenseofgoodnessconfrontsacriminalwhoembodiesrealevil.Theylivebydifferentcodesofconduct,whichaffecttheirdecisions,actionsandperceptions.

3.1Grandmother’sGoodness

InAGoodManisHardtoFind,thegrandmothertreatsgoodnessmostlyasafunctionofbeingdecent,havinggoodmanners,andofbeingrespectful.Ontheonehand,thereaderscanseeherselfishnessandhypocrisy,butontheotherhand,readerscanfeelherkindnessasanoldmother,andtheoldgrandmotherbelievesinGod'

sloveformankind.

Beforestartingholiday,thegrandmotherisstillcarefullyconcernsthekitten,takingtheriskofherson’sscolding,shesecretlytakesitinthecarbecauseshedoesnotwanttoleavehercataloneathome.Shepicturesthecat“wouldmisshertoomuchandshewasafraidhemightbrushagainstoneofthegasburnersandaccidentallyasphyxiateh