Analyze Southern stereotypes in the story; the language, the characters, perhaps even the violence. Does O'Connor present a realistic portrait of a certain element of the South in the 1950s?

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Literature Analysis: ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’
Times change, but stereotypes linger, and their effects continue to be felt among people in society. Accordingly, southern stereotypes in the United States have persisted over the years, often spreading misleading information that the South is racist, not progressive, or depicts southerners to be Christian, white, and ignorant, just to mention a few. These perceptions feature in literary works such as the ‘Southern Gothic’ type, including O'Connor's story, ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’ Following the ‘Southern Gothic” tradition, the story presents southern stereotypes convincingly through themes such as poeverty, alienation, violence and crime. Moreover, the language, character development, settings and the Chritian religion serve to reinforce the southern stereotypes. Therefore, as advanced in this paper, this famous piece of writing does not show a realistic portrait of the South in the 1950s, but illustrates southern stereotypes within the ‘Southern Gothic’ literature genre.
Cultural stereotypes concerning the American South are often pictured as though they are an objective reality. It follows that the media plays an important role in propagating such views as noted in novels (whether popular or canonical), film, plays, television, periodicals, and even advertisements, which show recurring versions of the same southern stereotypes (Burns 105). Some of these media are based on the ‘Southern Gothic’ style, which tends to portray the region as deeply racial, crime-ridden, characterized by the Christian religion, among others. Accordingly, the southern stereotypes are amplified in the ‘Southern Gothic’ literature genre, thus they persist in both form and effect; while portraying an organization by the utility, and perhaps by intent to project such ideas. In the foregoing, these stereotypes corroborate perceptions in general and national consciousness that reaffirm the inferiority with which the South of America is regarded (Burns 105).
O'Connor presents her story based on the ‘Southern Gothic’ style with several southern stereotypes appearing in the text through its themes including poverty, alienation violence and other forms of crime. To begin with, poverty is evident in the incident where the family pass through Georgia, and they see a black child standing in front of a shanty and having no britches on (O'Connor 5). Therefore, The poverty portrayed also reinforces the perception that the South is racist as people of color are portrayed to be poor yet the whites have all the wealth. Furthermore, the grandmother reveals her indifference to the less fortunate by saying that people of color do not have the things they (the whites) have (O'Connor 5). Accordingly, while the black child lacks essential clothing, the grandmother was dressed in the best clothes so that she spears as a proper ‘lady’ (O'Connor 4). The theme of alienation also surfaces in this incident as the child lacks proper clothing and shelter and can be seen standing all alone. Racism can still be noted in the incident when the grandmother calls the black child a 'pickaninny', which is a derogatory reference to a dark-skinned child of African descent (O'Connor 5). She adds that the child would make a great subject of a painting and this illustrates how lowly she thinks of him, reducing him to a mere drawing rather than valuable human (O'Connor 5).
Violence and crime through characters with deeply flawed characters is another common theme in the ‘Southern Gothic’ literature genre as presented in O’Connors’ text. It follows that the narrative does not follow normal expectations where good triumphs over evil (Chestnut 37). On the contrary, the Misfit appears to win, having killed every member of the family, including the grandmother. Therefore, the final scene is reminiscent of the southern stereotype of a violent and non-progressive region, where there is only doom and gloom. Accordingly, O'Connor uses the theme of violence to show an unrelenting misfit who will stop at nothing but to kill and cause untold misery. The violent means by which the author sends her message across is shocking and disturbing through large and startling ...