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1、新疆农业大学教务处制Abstract: A Good Man is Hard to Find is a classic short story by the outstanding American female writer Flannery O Connor. Flannery OConnor is good at expressing the grotesque through describing violence and at the same time examining the characters perception of religion. In her best-know

2、n short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, it is obvious that World War and religion have great influences upon the people in that era. OConnor creates the Misfit and the grandmother and exhibits their complex personalities.Key Words: Flannery O Connor; A Good Man Is Hard to Find; complex personality

3、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ContentsAbstract and Key Words1. Introduction 12. Two Important Factors in Oconnors Stories 22.1 American Society after World War II

4、 22.2 Oconnors Christian Background 23. Complex Personalities of the Main Characters in A Good Man is Hard to Find 33.1 Grandmothers Goodness 33.2 Grandmothers Evil 43.3 The Misfits Evil 53.4 The Misfits Pursuit 64. Conclusion 7Bibliography 91. IntroductionSince it was first published, A Good Man is

5、 Hard to Find has been Flannery OConnors best known story. It is an unforgettable tale about the confrontation of a family with violence and sudden death. It provokes very different reactions in her readers. Many readers and critics find it grotesque in its depiction of debased, repulsive and usuall

6、y unsympathetic characters and their spectacular displays of violence or cruelty. Some appreciate it as a black comedy for this reason, while others react with disgust. A Good Man is Hard to Find, as Os most popular story, often stands at the center of discussion. Many commentators share different o

7、pinions of the theme about A Good Man is Hard to Find. Generally speaking, they talk about religion, absurdity, and coldness. For some commentators, the tragedy caused by Misfit is a story about conviction and redemption. According to Humphries Jefferson, Misfit sends grandmother into the heaven to

8、receive the redemption （Jefferson, 1986:119）. Obviously redemption is the theme in this fiction but not the only one, Paulson Suzanne Morrow points out, reading carefully on this work, not only the value of Catholicism but also the changes of modern philosophy and human psychology could be acquired

9、（Paulson, 1988:218）. The lecturer Du Zhiqing thinks what OConnor wants is to let readers see clearly that there exists absurdity in the modern civilized society （杜志卿, 2011: 114-119）. In this work, the absurdity of life often makes Misfit lose in an unknown terror, he believes only in the violent and

10、 crazy way of confronting the messy world that people could find the significance of existence. When it comes to the coldness, Long Zhonglian holds that in the society which centers on money and material, female characters in Os novel are unaware of the importance of spirit and existence, but just l

11、ive without faith and passion（龙中莲, 2008:52-53）.From the angle of structuralism, Professor Hong Zengliu holds the opinion that OConnor changes the visual point and visual angle by using the antinomy to balance the distance between readers and characters in the fiction, therefore, a further research i

12、s done on the present western society and religious belief（洪增流, 2005:63-64）. He believes there are three couples of dual antinomy in the fiction: （1） Grandmothers inner heart and her behavior. （2） Grandmothers and other persons definition about a good man. （3） Grandmothers and Misfits attitude towar

13、d religious belief. The dual antinomy establishes the theme of the work. From the visual point of the panorama and the visual angle of grandmother, the structuralism contributes to a better understanding of the theme and plots.The above critical reviews on A Good Man Is Hard to Find have effectively

14、 advanced the exploration of the fiction, broadened readers vision as well as deepened readers comprehension of it. After reading and appreciating their opinions, the writer believes there must be many other topics worthy of discussing, and this paper will concentrate on the complex personalities of

15、 main characters in the story.2. Two Important Factors in OConnors StoriesThis fiction is the combination of religion and allegory, with simple plot but rich and deep meaning. OConnor often makes her story happen in the south country, with people in the extreme environments, in which showing the goo

16、dness and evil of people. In A Good Man Is Hard to Find, she tells story seemingly in an easy and relaxed tone, a chatty grandmother and her families come across a criminal escaped from prison. In fact, her stories are generally elusive. Without the knowledge of social background, especially backgro

17、und on OConnors Christian, it will be very difficult for the reader to comprehend ambiguity in her work.2.1 American Society after World War IIThe World War II has a deep impact on the life of Americans living in the South, after World War II, there exists spiritual crisis. The traditional Western c

18、ivilization value system had been falling apart and the Wars main impact on people is the loss of faith and hope, people live with loneliness and despair. After the war, most young soldiers survived became confused about the meaning of life. They lost their original faith and hope to life, and they

19、couldnt find any beautiful thing, they became depressed and passive. OConnor is deeply concerned with the values and direction of the youth of her time. She believes that Christ is no longer enough of a priority to the people of her generation. A Good Man Is Hard to Find reprehensive of her concern

20、for the priority and values of the 1940.Characters in this fiction are the representatives of those in that era who have dreams but have to face the reality, they cant satisfy their needs in psychology, so they incline to take various actions even the violent way to satisfy themselves. The grandmoth

21、er in the fiction once tells their children about the goodness in the past, feels the beauties are declining nowadays （OConnor, 2011:118）, it unavoidably makes readers think of the degeneration of people in money-oriented society, which is filled with loneliness and disappointment. OConnors worry ca

22、n be observed in the collision of goodness and evil in the fiction. 2.2 OConnors Christian BackgroundOConnor is a Southerner, coming from a family with deep roots in the religion. Her great-grandparents had been some of the first Catholics to live in her hometown, and her family stood out in the pre

23、dominant protestant south. She attended Catholic school and frequently went to Mass with her family. These experiences helped her greatly to believe in Catholic mysteries and divinity. In 1943, OConnor said, “Belief, in my own case anyway, is the origin that makes perception operates” （OConnor, 1969

24、）. She also attributed her desire to write to her Catholicism, writing once in a letter, “I feel that if I were not a Catholic, I would have no reason to write, no reason to see, no reason ever to feel horrified or even to enjoy anything” （OConnor, 1969）. She completely accepts the Christian view of

25、 original sin and redemption（龙中莲，2010：14）. Shed like to connect everything around her with her faith, she writes with a solid belief in all the Christian dogmas in order to share her faith with readers. OConnor always chooses to depict redemption through shocking, often violent action upon character

26、s that are spiritually or physically grotesque. She thinks people are living in the darkness of sins unconsciously, and they lose their religious belief and live in a wasteland of religious crisis（龙跃，2005:82）. She states that the subject of A Good Man is Hard to Find is “the action of grace in terri

27、tory held largely by the devil” （OConnor, 118）. She tries to portray in each story an action that is totally unexpected, yet totally believable （OConnor, 118）, often an act of violence, violence of being “the theme situation that best reveals what are essentially” （OConnor, 113）, through violence, s

28、he wants to evoke Christian mystery. In her eyes, violence can adjust peoples view of themselves as well as their religious beliefs and bring them spiritual redemption. These characters in her stories show their disagreements about society and their lives in various extreme ways.In OConnors eyes, th

29、e world of human beings is horribly imperfect, often extremely unpleasant, and generally funny. While in such a disgusting world, there exists the action of divine grace, which is the ultimate hope for man.3. Complex Personalities of the Main Characters in A Good Man is Hard to FindIn A Good Man is

30、Hard to Find, a grandmother with a rather superficial sense of goodness confronts a criminal who embodies real evil. They live by different codes of conduct, which affect their decisions, actions and perceptions.3.1 Grandmothers Goodness In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the grandmother treats goodness

31、 mostly as a function of being decent, having good manners, and of being respectful. On the one hand, the readers can see her selfishness and hypocrisy, but on the other hand, readers can feel her kindness as an old mother, and the old grandmother believes in Gods love for mankind. Before starting h

32、oliday, the grandmother is still carefully concerns the kitten, taking the risk of her sons scolding, she secretly takes it in the car because she does not want to leave her cat alone at home. She pictures the cat “would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate h