A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay -- essays papers

A Good Man is Hard to ascendVirtue and the nanna If you were to ask some genius what their definition of a contented life would be, they would probably give you an answer like, having fun. This is completely untrue in Aristotles terms. According to Aristotle, for a man to lead a beaming life he must learn each of the intellectual virtues, and consecrate each of the moral virtues throughout his life. These moral virtues are justice, courage, temperance, magnificence, magnanimity, liberality, gentleness, prudence, and wisdom. With so numerous virtues to constantly abide by, a man cannot know if he has lead a happy life until his life is nearly finished. In the base A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O Connor, the heading is raised whether the naan has achieved a state of happiness according to Aristotles terms at the time of her death. The answer is no, because she is a person who is dishonest, cowardly, and unwise. Of each the virtues, honesty is practiced the le ast by the naan. Honesty is defined as The capacity or condition of being honest integrity trustworthiness (Honesty). There are several examples of the grandmothers dishonest and slippery actions. In the beginning of the story, The grandmother didnt want to go to Florida (O Connor 1106), so she made up false excuses to try to persuade her family to take her to Tennessee. his gent that c totallys himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida. I wouldnt take my children in either direction with a criminal like that aloose in it (O Connor 1106). On the bearing to Florida, the grandmother notices an old house she visited as a child. When she wants to stop and re-visit the house, the grandmother tells the... ...n the story, (honesty, courage, and wisdom) none of the virtues are abided by. Although there are six other virtues, all of the virtues must be abided by in order to achieve happiness. Besides, if the grandmother doesnt abide by the three virtu es represented in the story, this leads one to believe that she doesnt abide by any of them. In conclusion, the grandmother does not lead a happy life in ossification to Aristotles theory of happiness. BibliographyWorks CitedCourage. The American hereditary pattern College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000.Honesty. The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000. OConnor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find. The fib and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. 5th ed. Boston Bedford/St. Martins 1999, 1106-1117. Wisdom. The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000.