Similes

Similes

There were many intriguing similes in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Two that stood out were:

“His khaki trousers reached just to his hip bones and his stomach hung over them like a sack of meal swaying under his shirt.”

“He was busy catching fleas on himself and biting each one carefully between his teeth as if it were a delicacy.”

Both of these descriptions conjured images of disgust in my mind when I read them. This must be the concept of "grotesque" that Mr. Sexton was talking about. When I first read the story, these small details did not immediately jump out at me. Instead, the story had a way portraying a dark, gray theme throughout. I suppose that this dark theme was in part due to the descriptive details such as the similes all combined into the story. Overall, all of these details had a major impact on how I viewed the story. The first simile is very vivid and actually disgusting. When I read it, I can't help but picture a man and the image of his stomach swaying back and forth. Likewise, the second simile also brings up images of dirty things. One usually pictures a delicacy as something unique and great; a food that is delicious. But after reading this simile, I can picture the monkey picking fleas and eating them carefully. I'm a very visual person, so so I can't help but picture a close-up view of the monkey's teeth biting the fleas. Overall, can see why Flannery O'Connor's writing is described as grotesque. It contains many odd and dark elements, yet is clearly effective at portraying that gloomy mood.