Gender Roles in A Good Man is hard to find

In O’connor Flarey’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find, the woman heavily relies on the man. According to how grandmother lived, she had other children but her focus was on Bailey because he was the only male child. “Bailey was the son she lived with, her only boy” (O’Connor 678). Grandmother looks u to him as the provider and hence, gives him special attention as opposed to other children. She does not seem to think that other female children are able to help with anything substantial. As such, she favors Bailey because she is a patriarchal woman who adopts the norms of society that favors the male gender. In the story, women are nothing more than irrational as well as emotional.  When grandmother was opposing the Florida trip where the Misfit lived, she tells Bailey she would not subject her children to coming into contact with someone who is a criminal because in her words, I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did”(O’Connor 678,). It goes to show that grandmother acts according to her emotions as opposed to being logical just in case they come across the Misfit. This article reflects on gender roles of the character.

Moreover, the mother has all the attributes as well as virtues of people who subscribe to the patriarchy society. She is a self-less woman, kind, nurturing, and self-sacrificing. Mother is a traditional woman who takes up the task of being a wife and mother. The women not only rely on the men, but also serving them. As such, it is not shocking when John Wesley the boy, now prides on the male privilege. He has learned that by being a man earns a special place and his makes him to disrespect his grandmother by speaking back at her.  “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?”, he tells her. Although, Wesley is young, he has no regard at all for his elders and does not view grandmother as a figure of authority. His status as a make gives him a pass to talk back whenever he feels like. From this relationship, it is evident that Wesley reflects traditional male behavior when grandmother asks what he would do if he across the Misfit. He replies, “I’d smack his face,” (O’connor 678). He immediately replies with the idea that he would be aggressive because he believes that is what people expect of him as a man.

Another way that O’connor shows the role of gender is when John Wesley harasses his sister in the car. He refuses to let her win a game because he already identifies himself as the superior person based on his masculinity. He lies and becomes aggressive towards her because he would rather be defensive than lose to a girl. John hides his insecurities by putting up a wall of anger and aggressiveness, which is typical, is patriarchal manhood. John’s behavior is due to the fact that his social relationships stem form dominant masculinity. His case reflects gendering where a child subscribes to their traditional roles both socially and psychologically. His disrespects towards his grandmother and sister were created from a tender age.

When it comes to grandmother, she reflects the pretensions of class and race where she shows that she is smug and self-complacent. She represents the notions of Southern femininity when she dresses in white from head to toe in order to appear as If she is lady like. She wears “white cotton gloves…a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collar and cuffs were white organdy…In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady”(O’Connor 679). Being in a patriarchal society, she holds the belief that women should dress according to the preference of men. As such, they have no freedom when it comes to choosing preferences that are outside the male gaze. Her sole obsession is keeping herself according to the pedestal traditions of appearing proper in the eyes of the public.

To sum it up, O’connor exposes gendered roles when grandmother shows how superficial she is with ‘’good blood’’ notion and this makes her a hyprocrite. Grandmother sends the message that even women that appear proper can be as deceptive. Her nature and that of every other character in the story show that they all conform according to the norms of the society. The family depicts the character of the South where roles stem for gender. Both men and women believe that behaving in a certain way, makes them earn the respect of everyone else in the community. The female characters do not even have names and the privilege seems to only for the men. As opposed to female characters, the male characters seem to have more control and this affects how the readers respond to the murders in the end of the story.

Works Cited

O’Connor, Flannery. A good man is hard to find. New English Library, 1962.pp. 137-697.