The purpose of most fiction is to convey a moral lesson or message to the reader. In " A Good Man Is Hard To Find", Flannery O'Conner uses characterization, setting and plot to reveal the negative aspects of human behavior and how these personal traits effect the lives of others. These three elements intertwine to form a general conclusion that ignorance, misunderstanding and hatred towards another can lead to an interesting end to your life. Rather than end the story happily, the author leaves the main character begging for her life as she suffers the consequence of one of the many negative aspects of her weak minded way of thinking.
             The setting can play a major role in determining the overall mood of a story. " A Good Man Is Hard to Find", is set in the Southern region of the United States which gives readers a general idea of the type of characters that will be in the story. Descriptions of the surroundings such as the poor condition of the small African American child's home reveal the trying times experienced by African Americans of this era and the negativity and bigotry by people like the grandmother. The setting creates a picture in the readers head of the dark cloud that hung over the South in the fifties that followed these people everyday. The use of language in the story also adds to the negative element of the story.
             Decisions made by the characters throughout the story clearly reflect the events that follow. The plot is organized in a way to reveal the negative aspects of the characters gradually. The rising action is the crash into the ditch that set up the events that follow. It was because of the grandmothers negative judgment that confused her and led the whole family into a ditch that will soon be in close proximity to their final resting place. By the end of the story when the massacre takes place, the reader understands why these people are being killed and the attitude the Misfit has towards the grand...