This Blog is a day late, so I shall use it to say what I
refrained from saying in the class discussion. (I really need to stop turning
in these late and missing blogs huh?)
Color and Symbolism
The question asking if there was a pattern to the color
really struck me. On the second page of
the story the family is driving and the scenery is described.
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| Ultisol-- A type of red clay common in the American South |
They pass “blue granite”, “red clay banks slightly streaked
in purple” and “crops” that are “green”.
This is the image of nature at the start of the story. Flash
forward to the family driving down the dirt road to their ultimate doom. This
is the image of nature we see.
“blue tops of trees” and “red depression with the dust
coated trees”
I am going to get all theological symbolism on this for a
minute.
Humanity was (According to the Bible) born of the dust of
the earth and then after leaving the Garden of Eden, man must till the earth
(the rocks, the clay and the crops). As
the family leaves for their journey they pass these images of the creation of
humanity. There is both grace represented
by blue and evil—though pride or sin seems more accurate-- in this creation.
Then toward the end of their journey they see trees. When
seeing trees one can think of Christ’s Crucifixion as he was nailed to wood
which comes from. . . . that is right you guessed it. . . trees! In the death
of Christ there is evil and sin (Red!). This is both in the act of the people crucifying
Christ and the sins that the innocent Christ bears for believers. There is also grace (Blue!) in that those who
follow Christ will no longer face the Judgment and wrath of a just God.
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| I must mention that The Pilgrim's Progress is not a Catholic work. Apparently O' Connor had a thing for "prophets" I would blog about this but there just is not time. |
This all leads me to think that this story is the “Southern
Gothic” version of a Pilgrimage. While
this seems to look nothing like Pilgrims Progress, maybe it kind of does. Furthermore, I believe I think I could prove
that it does!
Even the title helps
me with this. . . .
A Good Man is Hard to
Find
“And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is
good except God alone.”
Mark 10:18
Hint. Jesus is God and therefor good. One needs to read this
quote in context.
Other possible Spiritual
Symbolism.
The Misfit keeps on talking about these papers that he has
never seen and prove somehow he is guilty.
My first though it that he is talking about the Book of Life. In order for his guilt to be sure in this
symbolism his name would have to be removed from it I think. But I don’t think The Misfit says how the
papers prove his is guilty, so this could good work.
This could be commentary on the Calvinist/ reformed (you can
prove this to a level with the Bible too) idea of predestination. I am not sure
what Catholics think on this topic though.
A Question
Resident Dante’s Inferno expert (you know who you are! Though, you might not call yourself an expert, just compare your knowledge to mine, then you will)
I read somewhere online that there are allusions to the
Inferno in A Good Man is Hard to Find. Apparently these allusions, like a good man,
are hard to find. It does not help that
I cannot find where I read that this was the case. Anyways, I was wondering if you knew of any
of these or if they even exist.
I really love A Good Man is Hard to Find and really love Dante’s
Inferno so if these exist I would be pretty excited.
I was thinking maybe in the way the forest is described, but I don't know.
Side Note
I am seriously adding some O' Connor to my Amazon wish list.
you are invited to follow my blog
ReplyDeleteIn terms of allusions to Dante, the forest is a big one. Only in AGMIHTF, the pilgrims (the family on a journey) move into the forest rather than move out of it. Also, there are three monsters blocking their path, though the family is without a guide.
ReplyDeleteI always found a weird connection to Dante in the Red Sammy's scene. It's a BBQ joint, obviously, so it's hot with flames, etc, and red is the dominate color.
In talking about The Misfit, the woman says "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attact this place right here."
The BBQ joint is called "The Tower"; if you remember Dante's approach to Dis, it's a medieval citadel marked by tall towers just about midway through their journey. Up until then, it's kind of been a walk in the park for Virgil and Dante. After they pass Dis, the horribleness of Hell sets in.
It's also the place where only God's grace can see them through. Dante and Virgil have to wait on the Angel to open the gates (the family is taking a similar break from their journey). The signs for The Tower are all in caps (my analogies are slimming away to almost nothing here), as is the inscription to the gate of Hell.
The monkey is chained to a tree in the entrance, as was Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded Hell chained to a rock (or something).
I've always had a vague sense of familiarity to Dante when reading that scene, nothing I could ever put my finger on and say "There it is!" And that's sort of the genius of this story. The allusions float in front of you, but they never overwhelm, never become fixed. They're always just out of reach, but fill the text nonetheless.