"A Good Man is Hard to Find" Reaction

 What did I just read?!?!

"A Good Man is Hard to Find", one of Flannery O' Connor's shocking and brilliantly crafted short stories, throws the reader for an unexpected and horrific surprise that changes the entire dynamic of the plot. Narrating the seemingly mundane family road trip among a grandmother, her son Bailey, and his wife and three kids, the story turns the expected upside down, using the road trip to set up a rapid, and ghastly chain of events involving a car wreck, blood, and a criminal named the Misfit. In my opinion, O' Connor's ingenuity is best displayed through her build-up of tension, and the unforeseen ending she masterfully creates. By selecting a situation that a majority, if not all, of her readers can easily relate to, she makes it that much more devastating when the Misfit comes along and begins executing members of the family. Personally, I was dumbfounded, completely shocked, when the criminals systematically murdered each family member. I found myself emotionally attached to each character (some more than others), and was horrified when they met their end at the hands of the Misfit. In less than ten pages, O' Connor forges this level of attachment between the characters and the readers, making it that much more traumatizing and harrowing after this surprise ending. She creates this attachment through general associations with her audience: every reader can relate to the matriarchal grandmother, the stressed father, and the annoying kids in the back seat, all together in one car on a family road trip. The reader may have experienced an exact situation like this, as either a child themselves, as the adult, or on some sort of media. Nonetheless, the reader knows the characters, feels a bond to them, and becomes somewhat attached with what little information is given. This attachment and association that O' Connor employes effectively draws the reader in and invests them into the story, setting them up perfectly for the dramatic, surprise ending. Without such  characters and the emotional investment, O' Connor's ending would have not been as potent and successful, the reader may have been slightly effected, but not to the degree that O' Connor creates.
"A Good Man is Hard to Find", containing Flannery O' Connor's amazing application of foreshadowing, tension, and the surprise ending, throws readers a ridiculous curveball and takes them on a rather emotional rollercoaster that both devastates and horrifies her audience.