Orthodoxy and Allusions
in
"A
Good Man Is Hard to
Find"
reprehensible behavior.
There
is
an overwhelming sense
that
the
family
does
not
have a definitive authority figure present.
As
a
result, the family
as
a whole
is
completely dysfunctional.
The
grandmother living with
the
family only adds confusion
to
an
already chaotic situation. Fike
comments
that, "Bailey's family
appears
to
be
doing
the
right
thing:
'If
a widow has children
or
grandchildren, let
them
first learn the religious
duty
to
their
own
family
and
make some
return
to
their parents ... ' (1
Timothy
5.4).
Allowing
the
grandmother
to
live with
them
is
their duty, while
their behavior meets the letter
of
Paul's suggestion it nearly empty
of
the love
that
should
undergird
it, which he stresses in 1
Timothy
1.5" (Fike).
4
The
insincerity
of
Bailey's actions
and
his apparent
disregard for
Orthodox
Christian teachings potentially stem form
his
childhood. Bailey
would
only be following the example set for
him
as
a child.
O'Connor
places
that
example in the backseat
of
the car in
the
form
of
the grandmother.
The
grandmother's
promise to the Misfit that
"If
you would
pray,
Jesus
would
help
you"
catches the reader completely
off
guard
(369).
At
no
time prior
to
the confrontation with the Misfit
is
there
any
indication
that
the
grandmother
is
a Christian.
In
that
regard,
Bailey
may have been a bad father,
but
the grandmother
is
some-
thing far worse in
O'Connor's
eyes: a nominal Christian
who
knew
the
truth
but
did
not
practice it. Hallman Bryant points
out
that
the grandmother fails badly in her role
as
a Christian woman
and
widow.
Paul advises:
"In
like manner women also in decent apparel:
adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety,
not
with plaited
hair,
or
gold,
or
pearls,
or
costly attire"
(1
Timothy 2.9-11).
The
grandmother does
not
adhere
to
the Christian expectation at
all.
Bryant comments
on
Paul's advice
to
women
(and thus the grand-
mother):
"The
instruction seems
to
bear
most
directly
on
the grand-
mother,
who
is
vain
about
her
Old
South
Heritage and certainly
conscious
of
her social standing and what
is
required to be a lady.
This
is
best
brought
out
in her careful selection
of
attire for the trip"
(303-4).
Her
focus prior
to
the confrontation with the Misfit was
on maintaining a secular image
as
a "lady" instead
of
pleasing God.
Bryant further condemns the grandmother by stating:
"The
grand-
mother's inability
to
'learn in quietness'
is
tragically the cause
of
the
deaths
of
the entire family" ( 304).
Her
shortcomings
as
a woman
are
only matched by her irresponsible behavior
as
a widow.
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