Sunday, March 4, 2012
Mesa Has to Comment on this Post Because She didn't Comment on My Last One.
As the lovely Maddy did in her post, I would also like to compare A Good Man is Hard to Find to Go Down, Moses. While these two books are set in very different time periods, I think they share a lot of the same themes and motifs. A Good Man is Hard to Find is the New South, no doubt, but that doesn't mean it has nothing in common with Faulkner's novel. First and foremost, let's talk about the juxtaposition of New vs. Old South that we see in both books. In Delta Autumn, we see Isaac, an old southerner, awkwardly mixed in with a bunch of new southerners on a hunting trip. Well, I would argue that we get another glimpse of that same situation in The Life You Save May Be Your Own. Mr. Shiftlet does not fit in with anyone, which is part of why he's a vagrant in the first place. I think he's a representation of an old southerner because he's a man that has "a moral intelligence" (57), and talks philosophically about "big picture things" while he is mostly ignored, "He asked a lot of questions that she didn't answer" (55). And, in the end, Mr. Shiftlet ends up accepting he doesn't belong, admitting that he is "slime from this Earth" (66) and driving on, just as Isaac realizes he doesn't belong pretty early in the hunting trip. There are also references to religion in both, but I'd be lying if it wasn't way heavier in O'Connor's novel. However, I think that this motif, too, can tell a lot about the books and what the authors are trying to show. In Go Down, Moses, Christianity is more of a way of life. It is something that the characters use to direct their lives or to substantiate their points as Lucas does when he's trying to convince Roth that there's money on the land, "Because God say, 'What's rendered to My earth, it belong to Me unto I resurrect it. And let him or her touch it, and beware,'" (99, GDM). However, the whole preface behind The River is to question religion. It a story where we get to compare people who are religious with people who do not affiliate with religion. O'Connor does not pass any judgments about what is right, and the story ends with the reader questioning whether the river is accepting or rejecting Bevel/Harry into the Kingdom of Christ. The use of religion, though, further extends the comparison between the Old and New Souths. What do you guys think? Do you agree with me? Disagree? Do you have any more places where you think a theme is used in both books? Let me know. And if you choose to disagree, please don't be a Maddy.
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Lots of great text references, Peter I'm having some trouble with elevating Mr. Shiftless, er Shiftlet to a nobility inferred from his connection to the 'Old South'. He seems to share none of Isaac's redeeming qualities (I know, I'm an Isaac groupie). If we consider that O'Connor is attempting to reveal moments of grace amid the yuck of the world, is any character able to rise above their condition? Maybe just the simpleton Lucynell?
ReplyDeleteHere you go Peter- For me, one character that really embodies the idea of the juxtaposition between the New South and the Old South in Flannery O'Connor's short stories would be the grandmother in A Good Man is Hard Find. On page 3, O'Connor places the descriptions of the grandmother and her daughter-in-law in direct succession, I am assuming on purpose, in order to compare one generation to the next, "The children's mother still had on slacks and still had her head tied up in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress....In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead would know that she was a lady." And it is only when her life is threatened that the "goodness" (i.e. desperation) shows itself as the Misfit says on page 23, "She would have been a good woman, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of the day."
ReplyDeleteI also saw some connections between the Old South and New South and all that wishywash in A Good Man is Hard to Find, but one which stuck with me was in "The Artificial N*****," where Mr. Head teaches his grandson Nelson about the treatment of black people by example. He is visibly unnerved at the sight of a rich black man, pointedly rude to a black waiter, and then rude to Nelson after Nelson asks a black woman for directions. Even without the title, "The Artificial N*****" is obviously about racism and black-white relationships. But I'm a little confused as to which treatment of blacks is Old South and which is New South -- can anyone clarify?
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is one of the few moments Flannery O'Connor has actually mentioned the issue of race in her book thus far. Is there a reason for that?
I agree with what Peter said about the differences of how religion is viewed in Go, Down Moses vs A Good Man Is Hard To Find. This contrast clearly shows the effect time period can have when deciding if a society is more "Old South" or "New South". However, there are aspects of BOTH the New and Old South in Go Down, Moses, where in AGMIHTF, as Jo said, the two are somewhat combined. The Artificial N---- also struck me because the conflict that arises when Old and New South clash is very apparent. To answer Jo's question, I think that the treatment of blacks is definitely not as good as it should be in both the Old and New South. However, in the Old South, mistreatment seems more accepted by society while in the New South, it is more subtle but still apparent, which is shown when Mr. Nelson doesn't want to ask a black woman for directions.
ReplyDelete