There are a variety of themes in "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The themes of this story are: the grace of the grandmother and the Misfit, the vague definition of "good man" and the class of the grandmother. All of these themes are obvious to any reader, but they don't seem to quite match O'Connor's profound writing style. The two characters, Grandma and the Misfit, change from beginning to end. Even though they are both as different as night and day, they both have principles and stand by them regardless of the circumstances. In the story "The Good Man is Hard to Find," the grandmother vaguely describes a "good man." The grandmother holds the label "good" in a broad sense, overshadowing the definition of "good man" until it completely loses its meaning. He first applies it to Red Sammy after he furiously complains about the universal unreliability of people. Red Sammy says, “Two guys came here last week, driving a Chrysler. It was an old beat up car but in good condition and these guys seemed fine to me. They said they worked at the paper mill and you know I let them charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that?” (1.045). The grandmother said he did it because he is “a good man.” He then attaches the label “good” to the Misfit. After identifying him, the grandmother asks, "You wouldn't shoot a woman, would you?" (1,049). Even though he hates to admit it, The Misfit says, "I'd hate to do it" (1.049). Because being a woman is such a significant part of what the grandmother believes to be ethical, the Misfit's response confirms to her that he does not share the same moral principles as her. Grandma desperately starts calling him a good man and that is from... middle of paper....... The title says that a “good man” is hard to find because of grandma's definition. It makes it difficult for anyone to fit his definition other than Red Sammy Butts, who he can also relate to because they have the same mentality. Grace was another important theme in the story because the grandmother and the Misfit received the grace of God at the end of the story that they had always wanted. The last theme I found in the story was class because all Grandma wanted was to be a “lady”. She dressed and acted like "a lady" throughout the story because she came from a respectable family and wanted everyone to know that if they found her dead, she was a lady. Works Cited O'Connor, Flannery. "A good man is hard to find." The story and its writer An introduction to short fiction. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 1042-053. Press.