Flannery O"Connor has been hailed as one of the most influential contemporary writers. What makes her stories so unique is her use of grotesque themes and its effect on her mostly Christian themes. O"Connor truly sees her characters as "religious" heroes; even though some come across as evil, they know what they believe and expose their beliefs to others. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", "Good Country People" and "Revelation" show the Christian contrast between Evil and Innocence, which is portrayed through these so-called heroes and their prey. .
Critic Dorthy Walters commented that O"Connor deals deeply in the "human Spirits" of her characters, as well as, the worlds in which they surround themselves, either by choice or fault (23). As she reveals the characters and the world in which they live, she seems to project a negative sense of righteousness in them instead of what one would expect from religious characters. Critic Fredrick Hoffman pointed out that "Miss O"Connor writes about intensely religious acts and dilemmas in a time when people are much divided on the question of what actually determines a "religious act"(20). .
O"Connor takes her ideas of religion from the Protestant South but also from the point of a Roman Catholic, which gives her characters their differences. The Protestant views inflict the reality of God in the characters and seem to condemn them to be surrounded by Him, whatever their outcome or original position concerning Him. .
In the story "A Good Man is Hard to Find", the Grandmother conveys to the reader that she knows what she believes in, but when she encounters the Misfit she is thrown off by his questions and statements, leaving her questioning her original thoughts. In the story "Good Country People", Hulga states that she believes in nothing and yet when confronted with the Bible Salesman you see a change in her beliefs; it's almost as if she wants to believe in Christianity.
