Red Sam

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

The whole scene with red Sam and the Grand Mother is an odd one to me as it seems as it is a place for a lot of foreshadowing, but I believe that there is a little more to tell.  The first thing that needs to be unwrapped, is the character Sam. Readers are able to believe that he is a Veteran of  the war and now a cook at his famous Barbecue restaurant and gas station.  

He does say some things that are very odd as if he is enlightened by the Grand Mother. When the two spoke about "better times", I wonder what they spoke about.  I assumed at first glance it was nothing to really worry about. However, as I looked at the text again it seemed as if they interaction was similar to the ending interaction between the Misfit and her. How, just like the Misfit he was engaged to make conclusion into his own life.

"Two fellers come in here last week," Red Sammy said, "driving a Chrysler. It was a old beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me. Said they worked at the mill and you know I let them fellers charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that?"

"Because you're a good man!" the grandmother said at once.

"Yes'm, I suppose so," Red Sam said as if he were struck with this answer.(Page 141 and 142)

Now I can't figure out why he is good, is it really "good" to allow people to fill gas probably without paying or they paid, but put a lot more in then they should. It still makes a mystery at least for me to understand Sam, because I feel he is more to depict from this fat veteran and wonder what he is figuring out in his mind about this answer he came up with.

Another instance where I feel he come to another conclusion is when speaking of the Misfit with the Grandmother. Here the Grand Mother is cut off in her speech by Sam. I always wondered why this interruption occurs: "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attract this place right here," said the woman. "If he hears about it being here,I wouldn't be none surprised to see him. If he hears it's two cent in the cash register, I wouldn't be a tall surprised if he . . ."

"That'll do," Red Sam said. "Go bring these people their Co'-Colas," and the woman went off to get the rest of the order. This is a similar event to the ending when the Misfit cuts off the Grand Mother is mentioning the Misfit as her child. The whole interaction could be nothing however, I believe that there is more to tell and would like to hear some peoples' ideas on this matter.  

Comment Response to eng130_ThreeAmigos: Violence Makes It Real

eng130_ThreeAmigos: Violence Makes It Real:             While discussing Kindred during class we spoke about the role of violence in the narrative. We brought up the point that viole...



Like Coltan, I like how you've put some thought into this, but I also question the matter on if she should be subjected to the rules of that period as well though I do like your idea of the rules not seeming to apply to her until she is violated. I think that the rules would apply to her since other people in the time period can see her, but if she was truly a by-stander to all the events witnessed and no one was able to touch her, then the idea of the rules not applying would work I think. One idea I had that you may be able to build upon is that, part of the reason that the violence escalates, she expects to go home anytime her life could be endangered or she could be harmed. Like the first time she came back, she had never had the experience of a gun in her face, so she expected to die and she went home, but after that, each time that she faced violence and expected to go home, she didn't and it was only once she realized that she truly had to believe her life was in danger and not just have the expectation of going home in order for it to work - maybe that's more complicated than it needs to be, but that's the thought I had when reading.

The Ghost in the Well

Pre-marital sex and the consequences of social ostracization if the mother gets pregnant is a fairly common theme in many stories of a family member who did not conform to the cultural norms of a certain group. This is true for Kingston’s short story, “No Name Woman.” However, something that I think made this story unique for me was the motif of ghosts. Kingston uses ghosts as a way to express various aspects of the consequences for the aunt getting pregnant, and the narrator even uses this as a way for her to understand her cultural and sexual identity within the context of being a part of both Chinese and American culture.

            The first time that we see her use the image of a ghost is when she retells the first time that her mother told her the story of her aunt who killed herself by drowning herself in the well with her newborn baby. Her mother tells her that her aunt was called “pig” and “ghost” (5). This first image sparks for the narrator the idea of her aunt believing herself a ghost before she even died. Later, in her imaginings of what could have been her aunt’s story of how she came to be pregnant and her feelings through the whole process, she imagines her own family calling her a ghost and even a “dead ghost” (14) as though being a ghost didn’t imply death as it was. This moment acts as a bridge between the villagers telling her aunt that she is a ghost and her believing that she is one.

            This takes itself up on the following page after she has given birth and she describes calls her baby “little ghost” because the child has been born into the mother’s reputation and therefore is a ghost and has no future because her once socially accepted and alive mother is now dead to their community which heavily relies upon one another. This moment creates an issue for the narrator in figuring out how to view her own sexuality and multi-culturalism. On the one hand, she has come from this culture and community which is very interconnected to everyone within the community and everything you do should be for the good and propriety of said community. However, since she appears to be of the first generation born in the US, she is also a part of a culture which is not heavily reliant on the idea of your actions being for the betterment of the community and is rather geared toward the idea that you do what is best for you.

            Here, we can see the paradox for the narrator, if she did not mind losing her Chinese family and community, she could end up pregnant as her aunt did and not have to face the same consequences because she could still have the opportunity to be successful in her life as an American.

            This, however, is still a scary thought for her because her haunts her (16). She even explains how, as someone who identifies with the Chinese culture, she knows that the Chinese “are always very frightened of the drowned one, whose weeping ghost, wet hair hanging and skin bloated, waits silently by the water to pull down a substitute” (16). While the her own images of her aunt and cousin as ghosts create sympathy for them, this final image of her aunt waiting to pull her down as a substitute is one that is chilling and terrifying because it creates an image of the aunt which paints her as someone who wants revenge against her community and no longer identifies herself with the family who disowned her and is willing to kill those who were not alive at the time of her death.

            With this, the image of the ghost changes from one that is melancholic to one that is similar to that of a poltergeist. It makes you want to watch your back and stay away from ditches filled with water. 

A Daughters Exploration of Sexuality

        From reading “No Name Women” by Maxine Hong Kingston and from discussions in class,  I feel as though Kingston is writing this story as a way of exploring her own sexuality.  Like Professor Oster told us in class, many of Kingston’s stories are parallel with her real life, even though the characters are changed.  With this information we can infer that the daughter from “No Name Woman” is speaking for Kingston.  

After learning about her aunt, the daughter imagines possibilities as to how her aunt became pregnant.  The scenarios that she imagines are possible scenarios that the daughter herself has experienced, or that she has had thoughts about.  She gives multiple explanations for her aunts actions because she is wanting to explore what is ‘ok’ and what is not, in terms of sexuality. 

The scenario I find most interesting is the one that the daughter mentions only briefly.  She ponders, “It could very well have been, however, that my aunt did not take subtle enjoyment of her friend, but, a wild woman, kept rollicking company.  Imagining her free with sex doesn’t fit, though” (8).  I assume that the daughter is so quick to dismiss this thought because it does not relate to her own life.  She cannot imagine herself free with sex, and therefor cannot imagine the aunt being free with sex either.  Why not though?  I think that the daughter has always been taught that sex is a chore that women tend to for when they have a husband.  It is as though the mother is saying to her daughter, “don’t have sex for enjoyment, sex is for your husband and only him, and if your have sex with anyone else, you will get pregnant, commit suicide, and be exiled from the family.”  To put this into a more relatable example the mother is saying, “don’t explore your sexuality because it will lead to bad things.”  Although this statement is rash,  I think this is what the mother is warning her daughter of.  We can conclude by the end of the story that the daughter fears having the same fate as he aunt.  I guess you could say the the mothers method of suppressing her daughter’s sexuality worked. 

Though we as readers don’t know for sure, Kingston could have been writing this story when she was facing the difficulties of exploring her own sexuality.  She used this story to debate between sticking with the Chinese traditions, or developing her own beliefs. 

Comment repsonse to Engl130 Team BLT(R): The Yellow Wallpaper Ending

Engl130 Team BLT(R): The Yellow Wallpaper Ending:         I think I have finally understood the ending of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. At a first look, this story seem...



I really liked your interpretation of the ending - how the narrator and John seem to switch roles where she is the calm and collected one and he is the frantic one who is assuming the worst of the situation. I especially liked how you connected this to John not really knowing and understanding his own wife enough to know what she is like and what she would do or is capable of because he has given into this idea of women not being capable of managing their own lives and men needing to be completely involved with every aspect. Granted this is a married couple and they should be involved with each other, but not to the extent where one of them doesn't get to choose what happens. One thing I do wonder about your analysis is what makes you think that the narrator had "continuous failing attempts [...] to gain some control over her life" - I see where that comes from, but I kind of saw some of her actions as what she needed to do in the moment in order to get back to what she wanted to do.

The "Good" Misfit

The group discussion during class about A Good Man is Hard to Find written by Flannery O’Connor brought up conflicting views on who we as readers though was as fault for the families death.  The grandmother gave directions leading to a house that she supposedly had fond memories of.  Little did they know that the house she was speaking of was in a completely different state and in the opposite direction.  The children begged and pleaded with their father, Bailey, to go see the house because they were interested in the hidden silver that was never found.  Bailey finally complied, but was still resentful.  To make a long story short, because of the decision to go see the house, all of the family members were killed by the Misfit, a man rumored to have committed crimes and was on the run.  Now, between the grandmother and the Misfit, which of these characters did O’Connor want us to side with as to who was responsible for the families deaths? 

From the title, I think that O’Connor wants readers to defend the Misfit. By using the title A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Connor is conveying that the story is in search of a good man.  And by the end of the story we do find a good man, the Misfit.  We can define the Misfit as good because of how he is characterized differently than the other men.   As we read through the story we come across Red Sammy, who is rude to and demanding of his wife.  “Red Sam came in and told his wife to quit lounging on the counter and hurry up with these people’s orders” (121). Then there is Bailey, who shows no affection towards his wife and is also rude to the grandmother.  “Bailey turned his head sharply and said something to his mother that shocked even the children. The old lady began to cry…” (127).  From these example we can characterized these two men as not being good men.  Compared to the other men in the story, like Red Sammy and Bailey, the Misfit is characterized as having manners towards the grandmother.  After hearing Bailey yell at the grandmother, the Misfit says; “Lady” he said, “don’t you get upset. Sometimes a man says things he don’t mean.  I don’t reckon he meant to talk to you that away” (127).  Although it seems irrational to be on the side of the murder, this evidence from O’Connor implies that the Misfit is indeed a good man. 

In defense of the Misfit, this argument would place the blame on the grandmother.  Although she did not intend to, she lead her family astray.  The grandmother brought the cat along for the trip and the grandmother lead them in the wrong direction.  When she happens realize this, she jumps and spooks the cat, causing Bailey to crash the car.  This is a series of unfortunate events which are all traced back to the actions of the grandmother and not the behavior of the Misfit.  

"The Shawl"

Work Makes You Free, Dachau Concentration Camp. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

This story really gave me the chills. It’s horrifying. The imagery that Cynthia Ozick uses is so powerful. I honestly couldn't sit still as I read this short story. It was unsettling, and it should be. Coming into this short story I didn’t know at all what it was about, but it soon became clear with the language Ozick uses. There were some red flags when I first started, but what made my mind go to the Holocaust is when Magda is being described, “hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa’s coat.” (Ozick, 4). As soon as I read that line my mind automatically switched to the Holocaust.

One of the lines Ozick writes that caught my eye was describing Magda’s emerging tooth. “One mite of a tooth tip sticking up in the bottom gum, how shining, an elfin tombstone of white marble gleaming…” (Ozick, 4). There is an interesting parallel in this description between growth and death. Magda is a baby who is starting to teeth, a sign of her growing. Ozick then compares this tooth to a small tombstone a representation of death. I think particular sentence is foreshadowing of Magda’s death at the end of the story. I also feel that this illustrates there was no age discrimination in those that died in the Holocaust.

Another passage that caught my attention was when Rosa claims that the hum of the electric fence sounds like sad voices (Ozick, 9). “The farther she was from the fence, the more clearly the voices crowded at her.” (Ozwick, 9). These voices that Rosa says she hears I believe are victims that have already died. Their last pleas and cries for help before they died that linger on the premise. It’s very eerie because there were so many victims, so many voices to be heard. It reminds me of when I travelled to Germany where I was able to visit two concentration camps: Dachau and Sachsenhausen. Walking around both of these camps was the least to say quite an experience. I remember seeing these fences. The few buildings that remain standing today. The entrance that said, “Arbeit macht frei.” Work makes you free.

It’s very different to physically be at a concentration camp and see what remains from that terrible time instead of just reading accounts in books. When I was there it the atmosphere felt so heavy. However, I think Ozick is trying to evoke the same emotions one feels walking around the camp and reading this particular story. She does this with strong imagery that can make you feel uncomfortable and shift in your seat. Even though this story is very dark I did enjoy it because it took me back to the concentration camps, and I think that speaks volumes on how this story represents the Holocaust.

Barbwire Fence, Dachau Concentration Camp. Personal photograph by author. 2014.