English 103 - Blog #4
Discussion Questions
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"
Discussion Question #4
4) Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?
The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” written by Flannery O’ Connor, is a Southern story that has strong Christian aspects, along with strong, grotesque features with it. However, it also has another message that it seeping through its pages – that good people are getting harder and harder to find every day. The title of the story and the story are interconnected with one another like pieces of a puzzle – there cannot be one without another. At the beginning of the story, the grandmother and her family are getting ready to go to Florida. However, the grandmother does not want to go there and begs to go to Tennessee because a criminal named, The Misfit, escaped from prison. The grandmother does not want the family to be in any type of danger with this criminal on the loose. However, the family goes against the grandmother’s wishes and goes forward with their plans. From the beginning of the story, readers can surmise that the title of the story and the grandmother’s fear of The Misfit are related to one another in some way. There are a couple of other examples of how the title and the story fit perfectly together. When the family stops at Red Sammy’s for dinner, the grandmother has a conversation with Red Sammy about how people used to be: “A good man is hard to find,” Red Sammy said. “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1254). Lastly, the Misfit’s actions at the end of the story prove how he is not a good man, and that his actions prove the title’s point: “The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Then he put his gun down on the ground and took off his glasses and began to clean them” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1261). By examining these examples from the story, it is easy to see how the title and the story complement each other. Throughout the story, the grandmother talks to other characters about how the world has changed and that people are not nice or civilized the way they used to be back in the “old days.” The title of a story often is significant, and should be paid attention to. When O’Connor wrote this story, she probably wanted the right title to speak for the story. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the perfect title for this story, and offers the balance that O’Connor was seeking for this short story.
Yes, the title of this short story does provide a particular kind of insight into the text. The short story is basically about this whole idea – how good people are lost to the world. O’Connor did an excellent job at choosing a title that makes a lasting impression on her readers and really makes the wheels in the mind turn. Readers of this short story also have the advantage of being able to foreshadow possible events, as the title makes it very easy to come up with many possible scenarios. However, the main message that the title suggests to its readers is that good people are becoming harder and harder to find, and that the world is becoming more dangerous because of it. Back in the “old days” as Red Sammy was explaining to the grandmother, people did not have to lock their doors or fear their neighbors. Everybody knew everybody, and the world was a safer and more delightful place to live in. However, as the times have changed so have the people and some people have become more dangerous to live around – a universal fact that many people seem to accept. It is this important insight that many readers may gain as they dive into this grotesque, yet powerful story.In the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” written by Flannery O’Connor, the title of the story and the story complement each other nicely, and the title of the story also provides a particular kind of insight into the text.
The short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” written by Flannery O’ Connor, is a Southern story that has strong Christian aspects, along with strong, grotesque features with it. However, it also has another message that it seeping through its pages – that good people are getting harder and harder to find every day. The title of the story and the story are interconnected with one another like pieces of a puzzle – there cannot be one without another. At the beginning of the story, the grandmother and her family are getting ready to go to Florida. However, the grandmother does not want to go there and begs to go to Tennessee because a criminal named, The Misfit, escaped from prison. The grandmother does not want the family to be in any type of danger with this criminal on the loose. However, the family goes against the grandmother’s wishes and goes forward with their plans. From the beginning of the story, readers can surmise that the title of the story and the grandmother’s fear of The Misfit are related to one another in some way. There are a couple of other examples of how the title and the story fit perfectly together. When the family stops at Red Sammy’s for dinner, the grandmother has a conversation with Red Sammy about how people used to be: “A good man is hard to find,” Red Sammy said. “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1254). Lastly, the Misfit’s actions at the end of the story prove how he is not a good man, and that his actions prove the title’s point: “The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Then he put his gun down on the ground and took off his glasses and began to clean them” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 1261). By examining these examples from the story, it is easy to see how the title and the story complement each other. Throughout the story, the grandmother talks to other characters about how the world has changed and that people are not nice or civilized the way they used to be back in the “old days.” The title of a story often is significant, and should be paid attention to. When O’Connor wrote this story, she probably wanted the right title to speak for the story. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the perfect title for this story, and offers the balance that O’Connor was seeking for this short story.
Yes, the title of this short story does provide a particular kind of insight into the text. The short story is basically about this whole idea – how good people are lost to the world. O’Connor did an excellent job at choosing a title that makes a lasting impression on her readers and really makes the wheels in the mind turn. Readers of this short story also have the advantage of being able to foreshadow possible events, as the title makes it very easy to come up with many possible scenarios. However, the main message that the title suggests to its readers is that good people are becoming harder and harder to find, and that the world is becoming more dangerous because of it. Back in the “old days” as Red Sammy was explaining to the grandmother, people did not have to lock their doors or fear their neighbors. Everybody knew everybody, and the world was a safer and more delightful place to live in. However, as the times have changed so have the people and some people have become more dangerous to live around – a universal fact that many people seem to accept. It is this important insight that many readers may gain as they dive into this grotesque, yet powerful story.In the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” written by Flannery O’Connor, the title of the story and the story complement each other nicely, and the title of the story also provides a particular kind of insight into the text.
"A Chinese Banquet"
Discussion Question #13
13) Kitty Tsui’s poem is dedicated is “for the one who was not invited,” which we take to be the narrator’s same-sex lover. In the end, the narrator wishes to tell her family that [her] back is healing/she dream[s] of dragons and water/my home is in her arms/our bedroom ceiling the wide open sky” (Lines 49-52). Analyze these metaphors as they relate to the space between her relationship with her lover and her relationship with her family, two relationships that appear will not cross over one another.
The poem, “A Chinese Banquet,” written by Kitty Tsui, is a poem about the narrator’s conflict between her love for her partner and her desire to have her family accept her and her lover with open arms. I thought this was a good poem to read as it truly exposed the internal conflict that many same-sex couples face when trying to integrate their lives with the lives of their families – especially if their families are not very open-minded. If it turns out their families are not open-minded and refuse to accept their son or daughter as part of the homosexual community, then it can be extremely difficult for these individuals as they want to defend their chosen lifestyle, but do not want to dissolve ties with their family. However, sometimes this has to be the solution – their family or their partners. Usually, same-sex couples get tired of the extreme discrimination and hatred from the outside world, and if they do not get support from their families, then they will sever ties from their families as well. The narrator made this choice in the poem, and is freeing herself from her family and her family’s prejudices. This powerful choice can be seen in the metaphors that are made in the last few lines of the poem.
The last lines of the poem state the following: “i want to tell them: my back is healing. i dream of dragons and water. my home is in her arms, our bedroom ceiling the wide open sky” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 556). These powerful metaphors tell readers the important decision that the narrator has made in her life. The first line where the narrator states, “i want to tell them: my back is healing,” is where the narrator wants to tell her family that she no longer wishes to be involved with them because they will not accept her and her lover, and she is willing to leave them behind. Dissolving ties with family is a painful process that can wound an individual, and the narrator probably has gone through this pain. However, she is healing from this emotional pain because she has to – for her sake and for her lover’s sake. The narrator could not handle the prejudice from her family any longer, and as painful as it was to break these ties, it was necessary. However, her “back,” or emotional life is now healing, and is glad about this. She wants to tell her family this, but cannot because she knows that they would never understand. The second metaphor, “i dream of dragons and water,” has to do with the relationship with her family and her lover that will never collide with each other because it is impossible. Just as dragons cannot exist with water because they breathe fire, her relationship with her lover cannot exist with her family because they do not approve of her lover. Therefore, these two relationships cannot coexist with each other. The last metaphor of the poem, which is also the last line of the poem, states the following: “my home is in her arms, our bedroom ceiling the wide open sky.” This is the narrator’s declaration that her happiness, and the happiness of her lover, is more important to her than her family. Her family does not accept and love her for who she is, but her lover does. Her lover loves her unconditionally, and that is all that the narrator wants in life. Therefore, the narrator has made the decision that her home is with her lover, and has declared that they feel safe and secure in the comfort of their own home without the prejudice of the world suffocating them. The metaphors that the author places at the end of the poem are very powerful because they speak profoundly about the distance between the narrator’s love life and her relationship with her family – two distances that can never cross. They can never mix with each other because they are chemically unstable, and to mix them together would cause utter destruction. However, keeping these two elements apart keeps them in their pure and stable state, making them easier to handle. It is amazing how a couple of metaphors can speak volumes about a life-changing subject.
In the poem, “A Chinese Banquet,” written by Kitty Tsui, the narrator explains in the last metaphors of the poem how her relationship with her lover and her family can never coexist with one another.
The poem, “A Chinese Banquet,” written by Kitty Tsui, is a poem about the narrator’s conflict between her love for her partner and her desire to have her family accept her and her lover with open arms. I thought this was a good poem to read as it truly exposed the internal conflict that many same-sex couples face when trying to integrate their lives with the lives of their families – especially if their families are not very open-minded. If it turns out their families are not open-minded and refuse to accept their son or daughter as part of the homosexual community, then it can be extremely difficult for these individuals as they want to defend their chosen lifestyle, but do not want to dissolve ties with their family. However, sometimes this has to be the solution – their family or their partners. Usually, same-sex couples get tired of the extreme discrimination and hatred from the outside world, and if they do not get support from their families, then they will sever ties from their families as well. The narrator made this choice in the poem, and is freeing herself from her family and her family’s prejudices. This powerful choice can be seen in the metaphors that are made in the last few lines of the poem.
The last lines of the poem state the following: “i want to tell them: my back is healing. i dream of dragons and water. my home is in her arms, our bedroom ceiling the wide open sky” (qtd. in Schilb and Clifford 556). These powerful metaphors tell readers the important decision that the narrator has made in her life. The first line where the narrator states, “i want to tell them: my back is healing,” is where the narrator wants to tell her family that she no longer wishes to be involved with them because they will not accept her and her lover, and she is willing to leave them behind. Dissolving ties with family is a painful process that can wound an individual, and the narrator probably has gone through this pain. However, she is healing from this emotional pain because she has to – for her sake and for her lover’s sake. The narrator could not handle the prejudice from her family any longer, and as painful as it was to break these ties, it was necessary. However, her “back,” or emotional life is now healing, and is glad about this. She wants to tell her family this, but cannot because she knows that they would never understand. The second metaphor, “i dream of dragons and water,” has to do with the relationship with her family and her lover that will never collide with each other because it is impossible. Just as dragons cannot exist with water because they breathe fire, her relationship with her lover cannot exist with her family because they do not approve of her lover. Therefore, these two relationships cannot coexist with each other. The last metaphor of the poem, which is also the last line of the poem, states the following: “my home is in her arms, our bedroom ceiling the wide open sky.” This is the narrator’s declaration that her happiness, and the happiness of her lover, is more important to her than her family. Her family does not accept and love her for who she is, but her lover does. Her lover loves her unconditionally, and that is all that the narrator wants in life. Therefore, the narrator has made the decision that her home is with her lover, and has declared that they feel safe and secure in the comfort of their own home without the prejudice of the world suffocating them. The metaphors that the author places at the end of the poem are very powerful because they speak profoundly about the distance between the narrator’s love life and her relationship with her family – two distances that can never cross. They can never mix with each other because they are chemically unstable, and to mix them together would cause utter destruction. However, keeping these two elements apart keeps them in their pure and stable state, making them easier to handle. It is amazing how a couple of metaphors can speak volumes about a life-changing subject.
In the poem, “A Chinese Banquet,” written by Kitty Tsui, the narrator explains in the last metaphors of the poem how her relationship with her lover and her family can never coexist with one another.
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