The Dysfunctional: Psychoanalysis of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor The murder of women, children, and even an infant is a harsh image used by Flannery O'Connor in "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The imagery is an effective literary device used to convey ironic tragedy, the struggle of female characters, and family unity. The story follows a family traveling to Florida when their trip, interrupted by an unfortunate detour resulting in a car accident, ends in murder after they cross paths with an escaped convict. Family dysfunction, female struggles, and tragedy are common themes in stories written by Flannery O'Connor, and her characters are often described as grotesque. In her story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," she shows the relationships between a dependent mother and a resentful, indifferent son, between a helpless grandmother and her insolent grandchildren, and the family's interaction with strangers to promote idea of ​​shared human struggles. with the senselessness of self-centeredness and the dangers of impetuous behavior. Flannery O'Connor, born Mary Flannery O'Connor in 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. She graduated from the Women's College of Georgia in 1945 and earned a master's degree from Iowa State University in 1947. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, she suffered from lupus and, before she died in 1964, spent the last ten years of her life as an invalid who writes and raises peacocks on his mother's farm in Georgia. Interestingly, the characters in his stories are often called grotesque, yet, as the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia states, "[t]his characters, though often deformed in both body and spirit, are driven toward redemption" (Columbia Electronic Encycl ..... half of the document ......13. Columbia University Press. Web, April 2014. HCC Database: Complete Academic Research .56 Issue 2, p129-137. Web.Flora, Joseph M. Two on The Southern Literary Journal, Volume 37, Issue 1, Published by The University of North Carolina Press, Fall 2004, pp.179-181 Muse.Mitchell, Mark T. The Melancholy Tyrant: Democracy and Tyranny in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, Fall 2005, vol 34 Issue 4, p211-216 “Chapter 13 Doing Justice "Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2012. p1283-1296. Press.