Write 5 page essay on the topic O'Connor's Critique on Religion in A God Man is Hard to Find.Download file to see previous pages... These moral principles are also presented as the results of the vari

Write 5 page essay on the topic O'Connor's Critique on Religion in A God Man is Hard to Find.

These moral principles are also presented as the results of the varied degrees of religiosity within one family. However, while the O’Connor’s short story is able to capture the attention of readers because of its shock value, the subject of the story and the subtle but powerful messages expressed by the author have become issues of debate among literary analysts as well. The opposing views or the interpretation of the story and the author’s intent are based on perspectives that may well be considered also as essentially contradicting. Such contradiction is also irreconcilable, with one side asserting that A Good Man is Hard to Find is basically an attack on attitudes resulting from religious hypocrisy while another likens the victims of the crime to the martyrs of the faith. In the ensuing debate, argument and counter-arguments have been thrown and one particular noteworthy article on the matter is one written by Arthur Bethea. The article simply titled O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find is an attempt by Bethea to present his own argument against the proposition of Stephen Bandy that neither the grandmother nor the Misfit really deserved to have their salvation. This line of thinking is apparently the result of an implied thought that grandmother was instrumental in the making the Misfit receive grace, which is actually an act that is also reflective of her belief that she too is the bearer of the grace. With this concept it is clear that Bandy is analysing the story from the point of view of someone who also considers himself to have the capability of judging others from his own moral perspective. Apparently, Bethea does not agree with this and he is write in his presentation of a more objective literary analysis that could be deemed as more precise in the appraisal of O’Connor’s views, In his own analysis of the plot, Bandy expressed his own impression of grace from the viewpoint of how human beings or mortals would have treated it to be, especially on the concept of grace. Bethea, however, writes that Bandy has “a far too intricate view of grace, missing a basic point: God is God. He can do anything He wants—even save people like the grandmother and The Misfit.” (246) Bethea admitted in this very same article that he is agnostic, someone who does not belong to any Church but does not necessarily disbelieve in God. Yet, he reminds those who share the same idea with Bandy that when O’Connor wrote about A Good Man is Hard to Find, he too believed in the existence of God and that, as a Supreme Being, He can do whatever he wants and he can decide according this ways, which are most often too mysterious for man to understand. In this regard, Bethea correctly put in context his argument to the background of the author himself as well as to the circumstance of the story. This is obviously the reason why he can provide a more accurate explanation of O’Connor’s mindset in describing a scene or presenting a dialogue between the characters. All throughout the story, there are instances that O’Connor clearly attempts to explicitly present his skepticisms and confusions about the teachings of Christianity. Near the end of the story, she wrote about the Misfit who said “I found out the crime don’t matter… You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you’re going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it.” (O’Connor 49) At this point of the story, the Misfit was already contemplating on killing the grandmother as well.