Abstract： Flannery O’Connor is one of the most famous writers in the United States. In her 39 years of short life history, she used bright and full of tragic writing skills to sketch out a variety of people, depicting a strange and absurd real world. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a representative of O’Connor’s literary output. This work focuses on a family of six with an affable grandmother who encounters the murderer Misfit when he travels, thus turning the comedy into a tragic story. O’Connor reveals the dark side of the world through this work and reveals the coldness of the entire social context.

This paper attempts to explore the theme of apathy in A Good Man is Hard to Find, which demonstrates O’Connor’s intrinsic implication and display its precious literary value as much as possible. A good, well-themed novel has a typical character that makes the story fresh and the narrative plots ups and downs. Therefore, this paper will focus on analyzing the characters in this novel, including their character characteristics and the factors that influence the formation of their character. At the same time, it will analyze the novel’s tragic sarcastic ending and subtle setting to analyze the apathy in the novel’s theme. This will not only further reveal the realistic meaning of O’Connor’s works, but also understand the social reality of the United States in the 20th century.

Keywords:  A Good Man is Hard to Find  O’Connor  apathy  theme

中文摘要：弗兰纳里·奥康纳是美国最著名的作家之一。在她39年的短暂人生历程里,她运用明快而充满悲剧性的文笔勾勒出了一个又一个形形色色的人物，描绘了奇异而又荒诞的现实世界。《好人难寻》是奥康纳的文学代表作。这部作品主要讲述了有着一个爱唠叨的老祖母的六口之家，在外出旅行时偶遇杀人犯“不合时宜的人”，从而使喜剧变成悲剧的故事。奥康纳通过这部作品揭露了世界的黑暗面，揭示了整个大的社会背景下的冷漠之风。

本文试图通过对《好人难寻》的冷漠主题的探究，尽可能展现奥康纳小说的内在意蕴和珍贵的文学价值。一本主题深刻的好小说，一般有典型的人物形象使故事鲜活起来，叙述情节上也会跌宕起伏。因此，本文将重点分析奥康纳小说中的人物，包括人物性格特点以及探讨人物性格形成的影响因素，同时也将分析小说的悲剧性结局和背景描写，从而剖析小说主题中的冷漠成分。这样既能进一步深揭示奥康纳作品的现实寓意，又能了解美国20世纪的社会现实。

关键词：好人难寻；奥康纳；冷漠；主题

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 A Brief Introduction to O'Connor-1

1.2 A Brief Introduction to A Good Man is Hard to Find-1

1.3 Literature Review-2

1.4 Thesis Structure-3

Chapter Two Definition and Significance of Apathy-4

2.1 Definition of Apathy-4

2.2 Significance of Apathy in A Good Man is Hard to Find-4

Chapter Three Theme of Apathy Reflected in Characterization-6

3.1 The Grandmother: Devoid of Love and Belief-6

3.2 The Misfit：An Outcast from Society-7

Chapter Four Theme of Apathy Reflected in Setting and Ending-8

4.1 Symbolic Setting-8

4.2 Tragic Ending-9

Chapter Five Conclusion-10

References-11