Literary Devices

Literary Device - Foreshadowing: "It was a big black battered hearse-like automobile (A Good Man Is Hard to Find, 361)."

Rationale for selection:

Here, a family is on a road trip when suddenly, they have an accident and flip the car. The family is relatively uninjured from the crash but flag down another vehicle, to then the vehicle is described as "hearse-like." A hearse transports dead people in their coffins to and from funeral services. Describing the car as a hearse is a nod to what happens at the end of the story. Readers know that the family ends up getting killed by the Misfit. Detailing the car as "hearse-like" foreshadows the family's untimely demise.

Literary Device - Irony: "It was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey, a pack of cards, and a small blue box with printing on it (Good Country People, 379)."

Rationale for selection:

Here, Hulga is being taken advantage of by a con man. Manley Pointer was supposed to be a bible salesman, but he reveals his true intentions here. Manley pulls out one of his bibles and opens it to reveal that it was hollow and contained different items. O'Connor uses irony here by surprising the reader. Readers do not expect Manley to pull out things such as alcohol from a bible. A bible is supposed to be a holy book, but Manley uses it to contain traditionally sinful items.