In Flannery O’Connor’s literary work titled A Good Man is Hard to Find, the main conflict that drives the plot is a Man vs Man conflict between the Misfit and the grandmother. The grandmother is trying to argue and reason with the Misfit to save her life and her family from being shot. She tries to persuade him into believing that he is a good man that would not harm them. “Jesus!” the old lady cried. “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady.” The misfit goes on to argue that Jesus threw everything off balance, he states “Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead.” The Misfit continued. “And he shouldnt’ have done it. He thrown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then it’s nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and if He didn’t, then it’s nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can-by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him.  No pleasure but meanness.”

One of the main themes in this work is the ideal of being a good man, and how that is viewed by polar opposite characters, which in turn creates that main conflict in the story. There are many what would Jesus do moments among the literature. I think that makes it relatable to today’s standard on how many people measure “goodness.” The grandmother tells the Misfit over and over again that he should have been praying or to pray now. “If you would pray,” the old lady said, “Jesus would help you.” “That’s right, The Misfit said. “Well then, why don’t you pray?” she asked trembling with delight suddenly. “ I don’t want no hep,” he said. “I’m doing all right by myself.” He goes on to state that he thinks all crime is basically the same punishment if it’s stealing a tire off a car or killing someone. The conflict lies in their morals and beliefs on what goodness means to each of them. 

The Misfit at the end of the story begins to show emotion, and when the grandmother reaches out to touch him out of compassion he springs back and shoots her three times. The story closes with “She would of been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “If it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” “Some fun!” Bobby Lee said. “Shut up, Bobby Lee,” The Misfit said. “It’s no real pleasure in life.”

O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Robert S. Levine. Norton, 2022, p 393-404.