Blindness

 Blindness From the Truth in O Connor’s Fiction Final essay 2 revised

  Reality is not always black and white: there is an extensive gray zone, but Flannery O Connor’s characters fail to represent or understand that O Connor’s claims are complex, so she uses irony to suggest how characters are often blind to the reality around them. For example, a person may be physically blind, but that does not mean the person cannot see their environment For example, in reality a blind person can sometimes see better than a person who has sight because blind people are more perceptive . Furthermore, people who can physically see do not always really open their eyes to the important things that really matter in life. As O Connor shows even her most intelligent, or well-well-mannered characters can be blind to the most obvious circumstances. O Connor uses blindness as a metaphor for people who cannot see the true reality of the atmosphere we live in because they get so caught up in the illusion of achieving their worldly desires that they cannot see the truth of the world that is right in front of their eyes. This theme is expressed in O Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” through the actions of the characters and how they respond to unexpectedly evil circumstances in their lives.  

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,’” the grandmother shows that she is blind to the true reality of the world because she has a very warped view of what it means to be a “good person”. First, the grandmother is blind to her own bad behavior. For example, when she joyfully tells her grandchildren the story of an old suitor she had, named Edgar A. Teagarden, she explains how the watermelon he gave her as a gift was initialized “ E. A T”, but a Negro boy ate it. While, this is humorous, it teaches the children racism. Another example of the grandmother’s blindness to her racism comes out when she points out “the cute little pickanniny” without any bristles “This is obviously not cute. Here she trivializes poverty. In these examples, the grandmother teaches the kids racism, but she is completely blind to it.  

Another instance of the grandmother‘s blindness from the truth of reality is her manipulation of her own family. Indeed, as result, the grandmother is responsible for the car accident that leads to the encounter with the Misfit; this encounter leads to her own death and the death of her own family. For example, she lies to her grandchildren, manipulates her son, and convinces her family to go on trip to see an old house she used to play in as a child. Then after the grandmother is done telling her stories, she is so blindly , embarrassed, when she suddenly remembers that that her childhood house that she loves so much is actually in the family home state of Tennessee. After the grandmother realizes that the house is in Tennessee not Georgia the state the whole family has been traveling in the wrong state. In fact, she is mortified so she purposely does not tell anyone that they are going the wrong way the whole time the moment that she realizes it. In addition another reason she does not tell anyone is because she has so much pride in herself that she never wants to admit that she wrong is about anything. She always wants to be right especially in eyes of her family because she does not want them to get the wrong image of her as a lady. Therefore, she is a very shallow old lady, who is in denial, about that past being more superior to the truth behind the reality she is forced to live in now. Though, the grandmother hides her denial behind an arrogant mask of confidence, pride. . A few moments later the car hits something and then the car accident happened when the car flipped over with the whole family inside it. Fortunately no one got hurt from the accident but when everyone got out safety they all encountered the Misfit who kills them all. These reasons show how the grandmother is completely oblivious to her manipulation of her own family.

O’ Connor shows her last example of the grandmother’s blindness and her lack of insight in understanding the’ world around her, through the grandmother’s hypocrisy in her interactions with the Misfit. Throughout the whole encounter with the Misfit, the grandmother is blindly naive and in denial of the situation she is in; she spends all of her energy trying to convince the Misfit that he is really “a good man” who would not shoot an old lady. “(Pg 21 ).This shows the grandmother’s insincerity because she pretends to act as if she is a very good traditional Christian woman who is respected, with high morals; meanwhile, she is the exact opposite. In addition, the grandmother’s hypocrisy appears the most during the interactions with the Misfit when she instructs the Misfit to pray, when she says to him “Pray, pray pray Jesus will help you” (pg 18).as if she were religious, even though she says “Maybe he didn’t raise the dead “(pg 22) .To ask Jesus for help to save her and her family in their time of need. In fact, she loses her faith in god. However, she is the opposite of religious: she is prejudiced and she lies about the stop of the house, which leads to this ordeal with the Misfit. After the Misfit says” if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now “(.pg 23). His voice began to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant” (23).The fact that and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant” means that even If only for a second the grandmother realizes the truth, she willfully refused to see until her life was in danger. Then the grandmother, due to her blindness, says “Maybe he didn’t raise the dead” (22). “therefore she, changes her mind about Jesus’” rising from the dead as she grows more afraid of what will happen to her.” Furthermore, she finally gives into the idea that religion is unreliable and Jesus will not come to save her and her family, as a result, she begins to sell out herself because at this point she starts to realize the reality of her situation and that the Misfit is trying to kill her. In her final moments before the Misfit shoots her the grandmother has a moment of grace when she says “you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children! “(pg 22). to the Misfit and in that moment of grace the grandmother finally sees the truth behind the reality of the world she lives in – but only, just before the most evil of circumstances is upon her : her own death.  

Flannery O Connor uses the theme of blindness in short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find, “to show that even her most intelligent, or well-mannered characters can be blind to the most obvious circumstances; O’Connor uses blindness as a metaphor for people who cannot see the true reality of the atmosphere we live in because they get so caught up in the illusion of achieving their worldly desires that they cannot see the truth of the world that is right in front of their eyes. .  

 Another theme in O Connor story “A Good Man is Hard to Find, is innocence which only occurs when the characters have had their moments of grace and they have seen the truth of reality in their lives, which awakens them from their blind state. As soon as the grandmother finally realized the truth of the reality she lived in, the Misfit kills her. Then O’ Connor reveals the grandmother’s innocence after Misfit kills her in cold blood and leaves her in a ditch. Though the grandmother is left lying helplessly in a ditch, ironically, she has found peace, after her own death. In addition the grandmother finally finds her true self in death and happily looking up at the sky smiling with a “child like” expression of innocence on her face. (PG 22).