Flannery O'Connor is known for her brilliant use of irony in her stories. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is one of her superb literary works in which she proves her point by ending her stories in a dramatic, lucrative way. O'Connor's motive in writing this story is pretty clear in the title, but she also uses a couple of interesting characters to express her purpose. The title clearly conveys the message, but the irony lies within the title. .
O'Connor uses hints of foreshadowing throughout the story to let the reader know that the Misfit would have some part in the story. O'Connor uses the grandmother to foreshadow by having her fear the Misfit and mention him a few times before her fateful meeting with him. Her first mention of the Misfit was in the beginning when she was trying to convince her son not to move to Florida, "Here this fellow that calls himself the Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida.I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that on the loose in it."(Bedford, 558) This statement provided a warning about the Misfit, but not enough foreshadowing to know that the Misfit would harm them in the end. The grandmother's second mention of the Misfit comes up when she is speaking with Red Sam, "Did you read about that criminal the Misfit, that's escaped?.I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attack this place right here."(Bedford, 560) The grandmother's assertion might make the audience wonder about what would happen next. The foreshadowing becomes stronger with every mention of the Misfit, therefore O'Connor uses foreshadowing sparingly.
O'Connor uses the grandmother's skeptical remarks about the Misfit and the grandmother's conversation with Red Sam to provide her principle of the story. Red Sam seems to bring the subject up for no apparent reason; he began, "These days you don't know who to trust.