Response to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" & "The Story"

Flannery O'Connor is one of my favorite writers. I had read this more than once, but every time I do it never seems to lose its magic. The themes in the story are most definitely gothic, but they kind of creep up on you; we don't realize what this poor family is in for until after the accident because we only get the warnings of the convict from the grandmother, who isn't taken seriously by anyone.

The way O'Connor describes the way the family, still in a state of shock from the crash, notices the car in the distance above them slowly creeping up to the scene is one of my favorite parts because as a reader, you go from relief that the family is okay, to being just as curious as they are as to who is inside this car, and if they're going to help them or hurt them.

The family has no way out, and we as readers are at the mercy of the convicts just as they are. By the end, the family is dead and The Misfit gets to impart his bitter view of life to us. It's amazing how so much can be said in so few words.

Amy Blooms story was different; it really confused me and I was wondering what she was trying to do. The narrator was unreliable and I felt like she was tring to confuse me to make a point I didn't want to know (or a joke I didn't get). In the margins I wrote out "is this a joke?" as well as things like: "What is going on? I don't like it," "confusing," and "is this an example of a bad story? I hate it." So clearly I was missing something crucial to appreciating this one. Any ideas?