About popular authors

About popular authors

Two popular authors I will be writing about are Flannery O’Connor’s and Allen Ginsburg. Both have created canonical texts. One of O’Connor’s most famous works is “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” which was written in the 1950s. As the 1960’s neared, the end of the persona of a perfect family, the “right” way to live, and the widespread sense of stability was ending. The Beat Movement was just around the corner, and it was evident in the writings of these stories that authors were becoming more daring in their subject matter. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the main character is introduced as being religious, stand up citizen. Still, as the story goes on, her morals become questionable and beg the question if she is a good or even likable character..

The introduction of O’Connor’s character acts as the representation of society’s feelings of the ’50s, and their progression represents the transition in a culture which leads into the ’60s.

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is set in the 1950s. The main character is the grandmother of a family who is about to take a trip. Early in the story, the women boast about how she is a religious and righteous lady. Her description of herself is contradicting because, throughout the story, she is lying and manipulating her family by any means to get her way. I think the representation of this character is showing the countries growing exasperation with a restrictive and conservative culture.

Throughout the story, the main characters are portrayed as a normal, wholesome family. As you read the story, you pick up on little details that sway away from traditional values and norms of the “all American family.” The children talk back and are rude to their family as well as to strangers. The son and his wife are exasperated with their mother living with them. It is implied that the son said something extremely vulgar to his mother. This portrayal of a normal family is authentic, but not up to the cultural norms of how a “family” should behave. A recurrent theme in the story is America losing its victory culture identity. This is represented when the grandmother and Red Sam are discussing the “the good old days.”  This story was released in 1953, just as the Beat movement was beginning to take form.

The next author I’d like to talk about is Allen Ginsberg, one of the founding fathers of the Beat movement. He published his famous poem “Howl” in 1956 (Wagner-Martin 2960), a few years after “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” As in “A Good Man is Hard to Find ”, Howl also portrays a theme of disappointment in the direction of America’s society. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,”  O’Connor’s makes sly implications about America’s dissatisfaction with the direction the country is going, “Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave your screen door unlatched. Not no more.” (O’Connor 2779)

“Howl” Ginsberg expressly talks about the mistreatment of minorities and marginalized groups. You can see the progression in the subject matter by his themes of sex and drugs in American culture.