Flannery O'Connor wrote that "im my own stories I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace" and that violence "is the extreme situation that best reveals what we are essentially." Choose one from the two stories we have read ("A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge") in light of these statements about violence. What "moments of grace" do you see?
25 comments:
Hello! I am Jojo! My student ID is 49302007.
I see the moment of grace in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” in the end of the story, Grandmother and The Misfit were talking. She said “Why you’re one of my babies, you’re one of my own children!” I feel she was reformed by God and realized something, just like she can remit The Misfit’s crime. Moreover, I think The Misfit’s feeling was changed by Grandmother or the God. The Misfit said “it’s no real pleasure in life” and his attitude was so complicated as though he was also influenced. These are moments of grace I see in the story.
I think I believe in God, truly. Grandmother was so old, but everyday she was really happy. Even though she met those three criminals, Grandmother’s behaviors still performed with honest and simple-mindedly, and she did not afraid to face death. I think Grandmother must grasp something we don’t know, but she knows.
Life is just like a game; we have happy moments and sad ones. When we are not going very well, some persons say, “Thank God for giving me the gift and treasures were wrapped inside.” My accident is the turning point of my life, and now I feel very hopeful. No matter what happen, even though it is not excellent, it will be perfect in the end.
Hello professor! I am Vera! My student ID is 49807003
I saw the grace in "A Good Man is Hard to Find” which is written by Flannery O'Connor. After the Bailey’s family fell into the ditch, a car drove slowly to approach them. At the moment, they saw a big black battered hearselike automobile. The driver was the series killer The Misfit.
Though The Misfit killed all of grandmother’s family, she didn’t hate him. In the paragraph 136,’’ His voice seemed about to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant. She saw the man’s face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured,’’ Why you’re one of my babies, you’re one of my own children!”, it showed that grandmother had receive the grace from god ,and ’’……. her legs crossed under her like a child’s and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky.
As the Flannery O'Connor said, I do agree that when violence happened, and it will some miracle happen as well. So we should feel hopeless to our life, even though in the darkest side, God will help us eventually.
Hi, professor! I am Sai(49702054).
The question for the story(A Goood Man is Hard to Find) make me recall one of my high school friends, basically, he was a religious superstition! Everyday he saw me, he always instill his religious believes into my mind as well as others classmate. Comes again was a god-father from my friend's church. The first time he saw me,no doubt, all of his mouthful was the promotion of the God's existence and almighty. Come again is those famous writer! They can easily to instill their general ideas, believes and opinions to our head! That's their technique of writing as well as their rights.
So to the question, it's very clear that we could see the"moments of grace" on the scene that the grandmother beg Misfit to pray and don't kill her! I think the grandmother represent the God and pass the God's words to the killer.(In paragraph136, line7) That's the main thesis that Flannery O'Connor wants to tell us and also the answer of the question.
Hello professor, I’m Celia (49801032). I choose “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” to discuss.
The title” A Good Man Is Hard to Find” has told us it’s hard to find a kindhearted man in the world. In the story, the grandmother believes in God like Flannery O'Connor. Flannery O'Connor trust God love people and in the end people would be pardon. Misfit, who is the sinner, committed high crimes with his partner recently. Though Misfit killed the grandmother’s family members, she smiled to Misfit. I think that is one of moments of grace. Flannery O’Connor described Misfit less so that what we know about Misfit just from newspaper and after the family met Misfit. The grandmother told to Misfit he is a good man again and again. But if it works, he may not kill other people. Suddenly, the grandmother told to Misfit he is the one of her children. The sky has no cloud and sun, but what Misfit said is “it’s no real pleasure in life” after he killed the grandmother. Maybe Misfit feels love the grandmother gave him or maybe he found he killed a good man. But no matter what, Misfit really has a little change. It is another one of moments of grace.
Hello professor! I am Yan. My student ID number is 49644071.
I choose A Good Man is Hard to Find to answer. The moment of grace in the paragraph was when Misfit shot three times on grandmother for the ending after grandmother persuaded Misfit to pray. While Bobby Lee was cheer and said: Some fun! Misfit said it’s no real pleasure in life. Form this sentence I consider Misfit’s rigid conviction started collapsing step by step. In this moment a fellow with the most sin became different. His principal about doing things was suddenly different. We thought that foolish grandmother always made things bad, remember the wrong way, pretend she was hurt, etc. However, it was grandmother who makes Misfit thought what he did was not fun. In other world it means that grace takes place this moment by grandmother. Although the author didn’t say whether Misfit became good man or not, we could infer grandmother did effort on him. The moment of grace maybe represents some great of virtue appeared quickly and disappeared soon. This is the very moment even the worst man could feel the warmth of humanity.Perhaps everyone in the world were good at first, with different growth situation could make everyone different. With well-taught, evil man like Misfit could became fine.
Hi professor, I’m Cherry. (49902037)
I choose A Good Man Is Hard to Find to answer this question.
In paragraph 40 to 41 grandmother was chatting with Red Sam, and at that time she mentioned The Misfit and grandmother also said that she won’t b surprise to see The Misfit. These two paragraphs made us curious about what will happen between The Misfit and grandmother. In paragraph 45 the family passed the Toombsboro and this place is foreshadowing to doom. In paragraph 70 The Misfit drove the car which is like a hearse and I think this is also foreshadowing to death of the family.
When The Misfit killed the whole family is very violent no matter how hard grandmother begged to him, The Misfit still killed all of them. However, I see the moment of grace in paragraph 136 grandmother didn’t blame The Misfit; instead she said to The Misfit,” you are my children.” And grandmother died with smile on her face. Although the family was killed in the end, yet The Misfit said to kill people it’s no real pleasure in life. It means The Misfit perhaps will changed in the future and this is the grace moment I see.
Hello! professor. I am Beatrice.(49701044)
I choose “A Good Man is Hard to Find”to answer the question. I think this is a weird story. At the end of the story, Grandmother still tould with the Misfit about Jesus and the God, although she knew that all of her family died by the Misfit. We can see the moment of grace at here. The Grandmother just like Jesus or the God.She want The Misfit can be good just like what she want her children to be. We can see the paragraph 136, she said"Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" And then she died. Finally, I am sure tha the Misfit changed. He didn't think that killing people is pleasure in life.
I'm Ethan, student ID is 49902015
I choose the article’ A good man is hard to find’’ to answer.
I think the moments of grace happened from the paragraph 125, when the Misfit started to kill the all family in front of the grandmother. The Misfit was talking his story to the grandmother but kept his man to murder the family simultaneously. Grandmother knew what was happening but she still kept trying to encourage the Misfit to pray. She believed God could save him. The Misfit just listened and kept killing. After hearing the sound of the pistol, the grandmother knew what happened. She still encouraged him to pray until she was killed by the Misfit. Something miracle happened on her, maybe she died, but in her heart she still believe the Misfit is a good man everyone is a good man in the world.
After reading the article’’ A good man is hard to find’’, we could find out that the grandmother is a sincere Christian. In the first beginning of the story, the grandmother insisted not to go to Florida since there the Misfit was there. However, the family still decided to go on their trip. During the trip, I found out that the grandchildren are not polite to their grandmother, but she didn’t care about it. She is considerate, thoughtful and cared a lot in details. The subtitle is a good man is hard to find. But I personally think the grandmother is the good man in the world.
Hello, Prof. Hsu! I am Daphnie (49801023) I choose “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” as the theme story of the topic. In the story, Mr. Misfit was a notorious serial killer. After the family fell into the ditch, he appeared in the plot structure. Before the accident happened, he was only a name. Bumped into the family, he killed them all and left the grandmother as the last one to shoot. During the family member be killed one by one, the grandmother didn’t panic or terrify about Misfit’s action. Instead, she tried to persuade him into a “clear mind” she thought. She believes God, which is the reflection of Flannery O'Connor’s thinking, will turn Misfit from criminal to someone who would love to confess and to regret. After Misfit killed grandmother, who had always claim that “You are one of my own children!” He said “it’s no real pleasure in life” to response the other killers’ comment. I think “the moment of grace” in the story referred to the “moment of confess” of Misfit.
I am Ashley (49902031).
I choose A Good Man Is Hard to Find to answer the question. Although grandmother looks foolish in the story, I see the moment of grace on her behavior. At the first, in the paragraph 88, the grandmother believes everybody is born with a good heart. She believes everybody must come from nice people. This opinion is the same as The God’s. It is because The God believes that every resident on the world is God’s child. Second, I think I can see the moment of grace in the paragraph 128. Although the grandmother is scared, she still hopes to convince that The Misfit must pray. The grandmother believes that if you pray, you will receive God’s forgiveness. The last one I find the moment of grace is in the paragraph 136. The grandmother said, “Why you are one of my babies. You are one of my own children!” I think the grandmother in this moment was absolutely not herself. She looked like the God! She thought every human was all her child. They were equal. Moreover, in the end, the grandmother was still killed by The Misfit. However, I think it is strange. Why the grandmother was not afraid of death? I think it maybe represent another the moment of grace. If you think you are on the side of The God, nothing will make you afraid. The Misfit was also changed by the grandmother. In the end, The Misfit thought killing was no longer a real pleasure in life. Therefore, I think the moment of grace influences on not only the grandmother but The Misfit.
In a good man is hard to find the grandmother said to the Misfit that Jesus was the only one that ever raised the dead. She wants to give him a hope. She also said that the Misfit was one of his own children. The moment of grace is the grandmother doesn’t hate him kill her family and want he become a good man and ask him not to kill her. She said many things to him and want him don’t go stray. I think she is very brave to talk to the Misfit. She has hope in her life.
Things can make people unhappy in their life. And people hate the unhappy things too. But I think happy is control by ourselves. The unhappy thing is our teacher. When we have difficulties, we should have brave and hope to come through it and we can learn many things. So don’t afraid of the difficulties and unhappy things. Face it and things will be perfect in the end.
In a good man is hard to find, grandmother face the difficulties and talk to the Misfit. It is because she has hope in her life. She thinks she can talk to him. She has hope and brave and she want to try to make the misfit don’t kill her.
Hi!professor! I'm Joanna(49801046)
I choose "A Good Man is Hard to Find" to answer. In this story, I think that moments of grace is in the end of the story. When The Misfit kill the grandmother‘s family with happiness, however, the grandmother doesn’t blame or scream at him, she tells him that he is of her babies and touch his shoulder. Grandmother has mercy and inspiration on The Misfit. In here, writer makes grandmother saint; she looks like Blessed Virgin Mary and tries to melt away his coldness heart. At the end of the story, The Misfit killed grandmother eventually, however, at that moment, he felt a little touched by grandmother‘s confession and this is the moments of grace and violence.
I choose Everything that Rises Must Converge to answer the question. The author trying to discuss the races issue with us. In paragraph 33, we can see those words from Julian’s mother, are all hyperbole. She thought she was nice to the people who are different. However, the way she acted didn’t say so. Besides the races issue, the author also show us the conflict between two generations. Due to the era the lived and the way they are being educated, they had huge difference thought toward many things. In my option, in this story the moments of grace happened when the moment Julian’s mother was apoplexy. It was not until then, the boy realized what mistake he had made, which was being not thoughtful to his mother. In short, the violence is the extreme situation that best reveals what we are essentially.
I’m Judy. (49902027)
I think the moment of grace in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” appeared in the last part of the whole story that when the murderer, The Misfit was about to kill the grandmother, she still tried to convince the murderer from committing crimes. She told The Misfit that he got a good blood, and he wouldn’t shoot at a lady. Besides, the grandmother also tried to reform The Misfit by talking something about religion and Jesus to him only to hope that he can change his mind. Although The Misfit had killed the rest of the grandmother’s family, she was still full of kindness and love to care about others. How brave and respectful the old lady is to remain optimistic in such disaster, and even smiled up at the sky when she was dead. And, that’s exactly the moment of grace I saw in the story.
Hello, professor, I’m Stanley (49802016). I choose “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” to answer. In the story, the grandmother is described as a kind of insane. But we can know that the grandmother believes people are born with a good heart. Even in paragraph 133 to 142, grandmother is threatened by the misfit, but she still encourage the misfit to pray. She believes God will recue her. Even the cold-blooded misfit killed her family in front of her. Surprisingly, she still believes God and misfit, in paragraph 136, she was shot by the misfit, but we can the “moment of grace” in paragraph 140~142. The killer already changed a little bit, even he was a cold-blooded killer, but he finally said ” It’s no real pleasure in life. ”
Hello professor! I am Daniel. My student ID is 49802073.
I choose Everything That Rises Must Converge to answer.
We can find the moment of grace in Everything That Rises Must Converge. At beginning, Julian always felt annoyed about his mother and faced her impatiently. When his mother did anything, he showed a bad face and murmurs. In this story, Julian was so elegant that couldn’t have a positive mind. Besides, he had a bad relationship with his mother. When they were on the bus, we could find his mother had racial discrimination with the black for she gave money for the black kid. According to this behavior, we could understand Julian had worse attitude for his mother than before because of their different thoughts. Besides, we could know the irony of the belief which exposed the sinful nature of humanity from the character in the story.
However, when Julian’s mother was stroke for being beaten by a black woman, we could find the moment of grace in the end of the story. At that moment, Julian understood how important his mother was and wanted to solve her; importantly, he cried and finally he thought he entered into the world of guilt and sorrow. Consequently, we can find the moment of grace in this story.
Hi, I am Katherine(49902025)
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find some moments of grace.
Misfit is absolutely a bad guy. He killed people without a blink, and he showed no regret for doing that horrible thing. He even considered it was kind of funny.
I think that Grandma is his moment of grace. Misfit kept killing her own family members, but she didn’t blame him for that at all. In contrary, Grandma kept telling Misfit that he could be a good man if he wanted, he did not have to pretend that he was happy to do bad things.
When Grandma told Misfit that he was one of her own babies and was one of her own children, I think that was really Misfit’s moment of grace. He was just a boy that no one gave love to. Of course he did not know how to love. What Grandma said to him really influenced him a lot. In the end of the story, he did not consider killing people to be a pleasure in life. Although he killed Grandma, his mind truly changed. He got him moment of grace the first time in his lifetime.
Hi, professor. I am Jenny (49902047). I choose Everything That Rises Must Converge to answer. The themes of Everything That Rises Must Converge are about social and generational conflicts. Julian eagerly rejects older whites’ attitudes regarding race and encourages the liberal ideas of a younger generation. Julian’s conflicts with his mother reflect the greater conflict in society and result in violence in the end. I think “moments of grace” is the penny. The penny that Julian’s mother gives to Carver represents her supercilious attitude toward all African Americans. Although she wants to give the penny out of kindness, Julian’s mother’s action is just like she takes pity on the black and pays them as slaves. Giving money to Carver is a symbolic continuation of blacks’ dependence on whites. Provoked by racialism, Carver’s mother can’t stand her frustrated rage anymore, so she uses her way to reject historical subservience to white charity.
Hi professor, I am Jeffery (49902057).
I choose “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” to answer this question.
In the end of the story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, The Misfit killed all of the family members except the grandmother. When in the grandmother’s turn to be killed, the grandmother tried to convince The Misfit to be kind and don’t kill her, she didn’t blame The Misfit that he killed all her family, she even said” Why you are one of my babies. You are one of my own children!” This movement makes The Misfit hesitated a while in his mind, but he shot her, in the end. When he shot her, she dies with a smile on her face, happy that she had become a good woman before it was too late. In effect, The Misfit’s evil doing leads to the grandmother’s redemption.
Hi professor,I’m Patty. (49902001)
I choose A Good Man Is Hard to Find to answer this question.
It is violence to see that the whole family is murdered eventually. The violence in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is only a way in which to demonstrate a moment of grace. The moment of grace is centered on The Grandmother, who unintentionally gets her family killed by identifying an escaped murderer, the Misfit. I think that the moment of grace occurs when the Grandmother's head cleared for an instant. The Grandmother says to the Misfit, Why you are one of my babies. You're one of my own children. This gesture causes the Misfit to shoot her in the chest three times. And in the moment that she saw the Misfit's face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry. It is important to see that the deeper events take place rather than a family simply get killed.
Hello! Professor! I am Clare(49788036). I choose "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" to discuss. MIsfit killed all the Grandmother`s family. But in the end of this story, Grandmother seemed like to be comprehending. She said "why you are one of my babies. You are one of my children." In fact, I don`t understand why she said that. Misfit killed her eventually and said she would of been a good woman，if it had been somebody there to shoot her emery minute of her life.
It is be ironic, isn`t it? If I were she, I consider that I maybe go crazy. But she didn`t. She chose to forgive everything. I think all these ganna be happened is going for destiny. In the end, even Misfit still killed Grandmother, but Misfit really has a little change. It is another one of moments of grace.
Hello. I am Winni (49902017). I choose the story “Everything That Rises Must Converge”.
On page 325, Julian’s mother actually was recalling her memory about Julian’s great-grandmother. “Your great-grandmother had two hundred slaves”, Julian’s mother was proud to say that. Or she was proud of the past time her family have had. But the past memory is not good, and in the past years black people were seen as slaves under white people’s violence.
And on page 332, Julian’s mother did not care what Julian thought and she wanted to give the colored boy some penny. I do not know what she thought, but guess that she thought colored people should have seen as lower than white people and should be cared of. However, Julian’s mother got exactly what she deserved like Julian said in the paragraph 102. At the moment the colored woman got the moment of grace and Julian’s mother like a loser that stand for white people.
In the end Julian’s mother got a stroke. But Julian hasn’t found it until his mother really lurched. He didn’t care what strange behavior his mother did. No one got the moment of grace.
Hi professor, I’m Lily (49902009).
Here is my point of view. As we can see in the novel, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the author uses a lot of room to describe the grandmother’s fear and the conversation between she and the Misfit. In the article, we can easily tell that the grandmother is a whole-Christian. She tried so hard to convince the Misfit to pray because she totally believes that the redemption would happen. The sentence, “you wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” revealed the dread and a little bit of hope.
I think the moments of grace happened in paragraph 136. Right after their long conversation, the Misfit seemed a little bit moved by the grandmother. His face twisted as if he was going to cry. And suddenly the grandmother felt something. She astonishingly didn’t afraid of death anymore. She didn’t blame the Misfit because she still believed that the redemption will come to the Misfit. Although she still died I the end, she carried a smile.
Hello, professor! I am Erica. My student ID is 49802025. I want to choose first story “A Good Man Is Hard to find” to answer. In the end of the story, when the family members of the old lady were being hauled into the forest and being shot one after another. The old lady became more and more nervous. She wants to influence Misfit by Jesus Christ.
However, after all of her family members were being killed, the old woman seems to understanding. She said, “Why you’re one of my babies.” It is because the Roman Catholic faith. Although the old lady still died in the end of story but she died happily. As far as I am concerned, it is a moment of grace. The old lady felt she got the rescue since she thought they are her children.
It is a very hard to forgive someone who killed her family and even herself. That's why I think it is a moment of grace.
In "Everything That Rises Must Converge", Julian dislikes his mother's sense of superiority and thinks that his mother is a woman who lives in her old days. On the other hand, Julian thinks he is not like his mother, and he thinks he knows who he is and respects black people well. However, in the end of the story, his mother got hurted by a black woman, the time he realizes that he is the one who needs to change his attitude to his mother because his sense of superiority makes him feel better than his mother.
Post a Comment