Elizabeth Flynn's essay titled "Gender and Reading" discusses her analysis of data which informed her of a conception of the reading process which assumes that reading involves a confrontation between self and "other". It focuses on how the self, the reader, encounters the "other", the text, and the nature of that confrontation depends on the background of the reader as well on the text. She talks of how the coexistence of reader and text can take on a number of different forms, which is what I will focus on and relate to my interpretation of Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find".
Flynn discusses three different forms that describe this coexistence between reader and text. Firstly, "the reader can resist the alien thought or subject and so remain essentially unchanged by the reading experience. In this case the reader dominates the text. Or the reader can allow the alien thought to become such a powerful presence that the self is replaced by the other and so is effaced. In this case the text dominates the reader. Either the reader resists the text and so deprives it of its force, or the text overpowers the reader and so eliminates the reader's powers of discernment. A third possibility is that self and other, reader and text, interact in such a way that the reader learns from the experience without losing critical distance; reader and text interact with a degree of mutuality. Foreignness is reduced, though not eliminated. Self and other remain distinct and so create a kind of dialogue" (Flynn 268).
"The dominant pole is characterized by detachment, observation from a distance. The reader imposes a previously established structure on the text and in so doing silences it. Memory dominates over experience, past over present. Reader's who dominate texts become complacent or bored because the possibility for learning has been greatly reduced. Judgment is based on previously established norms rather than on empathetic engagement with and critical evaluation of the new material encountered. The reader absents the text" (Flynn 268).
"The submissive pole, in contrast, is characterized by too much involvement. The reader is entangled in the events of the story and is unable to step back, to observe with a critical eye. Instead of boredom the reader experiences anxiety. The text is overwhelming, unwilling to yield a consistent pattern of meaning" (Flynn 268)
"Productive interaction involves the active participation of the reader in the construction of meaning. Readers formulate hypotheses as they encounter signs of the text, and those hypotheses are constantly being altered as new information is processed. Productive interaction necessitates the stance of a detached observer who is empathetic but who does not identify with the characters or the situation depicted in a literary work. Comprehension is attained when the reader achieves a balance between empathy and judgment by maintaining a balance of detachment and involvement. Too much detachment often results in too much judgment and hence in domination of the text; too much involvement often results in too much sympathy and hence in domination by the text. However, when the reader is able to integrate past experience with the experience created by the text through critical evaluation of the interwoven signs encountered in the process of reading, comprehension is achieved and learning takes place" (Flynn 269).
I feel that my reading and analysis of O'Connor's story followed the guidelines of the third interaction, which Flynn states is the point in which self and other, reader and text, interact in such a way that the reader learns from the experience without losing critical distance; reader and text interact with a degree of mutuality. I noticed many elements that the author used in the story such as symbolism, metaphors, and foreshadowing as I was reading.
In the beginning of the story the grandmother is reading a section of the paper which talks about The Misfit and how he is headed towards Florida, where the family is headed. The grandmother exclaims "I wouldn't take my children in any section with a criminal like that aloose. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did" (O'Connor 1201). This excerpt foreshadows the events to come and reflects the feelings that the grandmother experiences at the end of the story when she abandons these thoughts of her conscience moral decision. The grandmother, who comes off as an overbearing character, is constantly given description that causes the reader to recognize her as a crucial part of the story. She is stubborn, outspoken, and seems to view herself as righteous and proper. She doesn't want to travel to Florida, but instead to Tennessee and she makes this known throughout the story. Her desire to go to Tennessee and her reminiscence of her memories there ultimately bring the family to their fate due to her embarrassing mistake of thinking that the plantation house which the family went out of their way to visit was not in Georgia, but in Tennessee. The grandmother's desire to travel to Tennessee can again be recognized as a foreshadowing of the events to come.
When the family stops at The Tower to eat the grandmother chats with the owner named Red Sammy. They begin to discuss The Misfit's escape and Red Sammy expresses his mistrust of all individuals which he excludes no one from. I felt that this exclamation of mistrust later reflects not only The Misfits character, but the grandmother's as well. She appears as a caring, trustworthy individual but in the end betrays her own blood. Red Sammy then states that "a good man is hard to find" which seems to be a direct reference to The Misfit.
After the families accident, the mother exclaims that maybe a car will come along. The reader, unknowing at this time, can view this sentence as one that precipitates what is to come. Just as the mother had thought, a car does come along. It is described as a "big black battered hearselike automobile" (O'Connor 1207). This imagery gives the reader a feeling of uneasiness which is further conveyed in the description of the characters who are in the car.
The driver is the first to step out of the vehicle and he is portrayed with an expressionless gaze. One of the individuals who piled out of the car was a fat boy in black trousers and a red sweat shirt with a silver stallion embossed on the front of it. The other man had on khaki pants and a blue striped coat and a gray hat pulled down very low, hiding most of his face. The two boys also had guns. This description conveys the men in a sense of mystery. The author makes them appear very sketchy and through this description the reader gains a sense of, again uneasiness as well as a sense of skepticism. The introduction of these characters further exemplifies as well as foreshadows the fate of the grandmother and her family.
As the grandmother's family is being taken away and killed off she attempts to reason with The Misfit and introduce him to the power of prayer. She continuously tries to convince him that he is in fact a good man and has a good heart. She stresfully cries "You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray!" (O'Connor 1211). Due to his philosophy that "Jesus thrown everything off balance" the grandmother's pleas anger the man. As the grandmother recognizes The Misfit as one of her "babies", she reaches out to the man and touches him on the shoulder, the man jumps back as if bitten by a snake. He springs back and shoots her three times. Through this act of offering mediation to The Misfit, the grandmother can be viewed through a metaphorical standpoint: that of grace. She steps in to attempt to bring some light into his world and change this man's point of view on life as well as to save her own. Her act was one filled with grace and charity which may imply that this story was written as one to convey the transformation of an individual through the progression of the story.
Although the grandmother's attempts at saving her own life have failed her, she has come to realization that perhaps she isn't as righteous as she thought she might be. Her attempts however don't seem to be lost on The Misfit who adverts that by enduring a lasting violence, much like he has throughout his life, the grandmother could have been a good woman after all. With this statement it appears as though the grandmother wasn't the only one transformed by the encounter after all. The Misfit, through his statement, appears to have been at least somewhat moved by the actions of the grandmother.
Works Cited
Flynn, Elizabeth A. "Gender and Reading." 267-86. Print.
Note: I chose to pull direct excerpts from the author's essay and place them in my own writing because I felt that her own explanation was well written, and crucial in the understanding of the relevance of my post. This reason being the same for the amount of direct quotes in the previous post.
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