"Man vs. Man" Within American Literature

             As Professor Cynthia Beck highlights in “Types of Conflict – A Review,” conflict often serves an essential role within literature, acting as an influence upon the characters and as a force that helps to guide the plot of the story. She highlights many forms of conflict that are found throughout literature, like that of “Man vs. Nature” in which a character faces hardships due to natural forces and elements, much in the way the Yukon man faces off against mother nature in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (Beck; 2025; Levine, Volume C, 2022.) But one of the most abundant forms of conflict within literature is that of “Man vs. Man,” which is an external conflict that occurs when conflict arises between two characters, or even groups of characters. An excellent example of the theme of “Man vs. Man” within American Literature is Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” which is found in The Norton Anthology of American Literature 1945- To the Present (393 – 404). Within this story, O’Connor uses the theme of “Man vs. Man” to influence her characters and drive the plot of the story, but she also uses it to further the overall theme of “good vs. evil” and as evidence for humanity’s complexity.

            Within Flannery’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the conflict of Man vs. Man takes center stage, as the grandmother of a well-off southern family is placed into opposition with The Misfit, an escaped criminal, when she and her family are on a trip. But his conflict is not merely physical, it is psychological and moral, as the grandmother’s beliefs and values clash against The Misfit’s and function as a force that drives the story to its unfortunate conclusion. At the beginning of the story, as the grandmother’s family prepares for their trip to Florida, the grandmother continuously attempts to convince them to change their mind and go to Tennessee instead, including highlighting an article in the newspaper that cautions an escaped inmate is headed in that very direction, “The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen” she exclaims, claiming that she “couldn’t answer to (her) conscience” if she endangered her family in such a way as to go to the very place this dangerous criminal was (393, para 1). This lays the foundation for the inevitable confrontation between these two opposing forces.

            But this theme of Man vs. Man and the inherent conflict also acts as a catalyst for character development, for at the beginning of the tale, we learn that the grandmother is hypocritical, through her attempts to manipulate her family, trying to get them to go to Tennessee rather than Florida, and through the way she manipulates them into going to see the old house she apparently remembers is on their way (397-98). This hypocrisy is even more in evidence once they encounter The Misfit, as she claims “I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood,” as if she believes the only thing that makes someone a “good” person is the social status to which they were born (p 400, para 13). As the conflict progresses, and the grandmother loses family member after family member, she has a moment of true realization and connection with The Misfit, in which she claims he is “one of (her) own children” (404, para 1).

            This conflict also acts as a conduit for the overall theme of “Good vs. Evil,” as it places the grandmother, who is a force of good, against The Misfit, who embodies the forces of evil. The Misfit is presented as a killer, one who feels no remorse for any of his actions. And the final confrontation between these two characters allows the reader to explore the complicated reality of goodness, and the stark truth of evil. But it also evidences the reach of honest love and the power of grace. For while the grandmother is far from perfect and full of flaws, and The Misfit is full of evil, that final confrontation allows both characters to grasp a glimpse of that grace. 

 

Works Cited:

 

Beck, C. “Types of Conflict - A Review.” 2025.

Levine, Robert S., et al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume C: 1865-1914. W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.

 

Levine, Robert S., et al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume E: 1945 – To the Present. W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.

Post Edited: May 5, 2025 - for clarity and grammar