Literature is now one of the most widely used forms of communication. Short stories are often used as a means of conveying collective themes that influence society. It’s obvious that some writers concentrate on the same subject. “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor are two examples of short stories that are suitable for evaluating how writers share in the expression of social themes. The two short stories by Faulkner and O’Connor explore how family plays a vital role in one’s life and how everything falls apart when it is disrupted, especially by death. he first conception of family is that it is presented as a bond where the members share on what brings them together. In both narratives, it is apparent that the connection between the characters is focused at a domestic level. For example, in O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the reader notes that Bailey’s trip was meant to take the family out for a family expedition. The author writes that “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey’s mind” (Connor 34). It follows that the grandmother perceived the familial bond to be so important that she thought she had the chance to state her opinion. Similarly, the story by Faulkner present the importance of family because it is purported that when it was intact, the Griersons family thought too highly of themselves. It is supposed Emily’s father was so protective of his daughter that he would drive off many suitors by claiming they were not good enough. In both cases, the stories demonstrate the significance of the family and how people protect what they share.
The other related theme from the assessment of the two stories is that the authors show that once the family disintegrates, everything else that had been developed crumbles. The case for “A Rose for Emily” depicts this feature from the manner in which Emily ended up lonely and vulnerable to the law after her father died and new authorities took over the municipality (Faulkner 4). Before then, Emily had been exempted from paying taxes by the old administration but when it was replaced, the new system tried to coarse her into paying the dues, which meant that she was defenseless because she had no family member to stand by her. A similar case is apparent when assessing “A Good Man is Hard to Find” because the author presents Bailey’s family to be vulnerable when the Misfit decides to kills them. After their vehicle turned following the accident, the family was as susceptible as Emily was in Faulkner’s story. The end was that the whole family including the Grandmother, Bailey, and all the children ended up being killed.
In summary, it is worth stressing that in both short stories “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the theme of the family bond is common. The authors present how the union of the family is critical and the manner in which disintegration renders all or part of those who remain vulnerable. The significance of such correlations by different literature authors is that they enable the reader to gain a better perspective of the importance of a specific feature because by being expressed in different forms, there is an element of emphasis.
