Few would deny that "A Good Man is Hard to Find,"" is a grotesque story: A grandmother and her family on vacation are ruthlessly killed by an escaped convict. Many would be taken aback by this grotesque aspect because the family and elderly woman seem so innocent. People do not want to imagine their quiet and delicate, "gray-haired " grandmother standing in the face of a murderer, so they sympathize with O'Connor's Grandmother as well (Bandy 2). This gruesome scene does not, however, serve as senseless violence. Beyond the disturbing imagery is a story that makes poignant religious and philosophical claims (Galloway 6). Pat Galloway analyzes this technique as the way O'Connor's characters receive the grace they may not have otherwise received. The grotesque, life-threatening scenes also allow readers "to peer into the souls of the character (Galloway 3). As O'Connor writes, "Distortion in this case is a tool; exaggeration has a purpose, and the whole structure of the story or novel has been made what it is because of belief. This is not the kind of distortion that destroys; it is the kind that reveals, or should reveal (qtd. in Enjolras 14). Therefore, despite the violence and death, O'Connor does the grandmother a favor by allowing her a moment of self-understanding and grace (Galloway 3-4). The good and evil ironically meet to relay the message of grace, common throughout her works. O'Connor wanted her stories "to reach the unbelieving reader, " and the shocking aspect of the grotesque was the most effective way to reach him/her (Hawkins 28-29). .
In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the physical appearance of the characters contributes to this grotesque reality. In Flannery O'Connor's characters, Laurence Enjolras analyzes the fictitious personalities O'Connor has created. His chapter entitled "Physical Portrait: The Ugly Human Body " looks specifically at characters in "A Good Man."" (5).
