Literary Argument

The Nature of Faith and Its Consequences in two American Short Stories

Many authors have attempted to define the idea of faith and its place in the psychological fabric of individuals . They have attempted to discover what makes one person believe (or not believe ) in himself , in his world , in another person or in a group of people so strongly but without solid proof . In The Road Not Taken ' the reader is left to assume that the persona 's genuine faith in his own abilities and intuition has led him down the advantageous

path . In A Good Man is Hard to Find ' Flannery O 'Conner appears to support the opposite notion that faith can falter in the face of danger and cannot easily be faked Both works center on the idea of faith in humankind , but while the poem leaves the reader with a somewhat ambiguous ending , the short story makes its lesson perfectly clear . Both stories show the reader that faith in both self and humanity can produce unexpected , even tragic consequences

Both works immediately present the dichotomy between right and wrong or between good and evil . The Road Not Taken ' illustrates the picture of a man standing at the proverbial crossroads . This is the basic choice of humanity -What do I do ? Clearly , the speaker understands that he cannot go both ways . He notes that he is sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler (Frost , lines 2-3 . He also seems to understand that his choice is permanent when he asserts that knowing how way leads on to way / I doubted if I should ever come back (Frost , lines 14-15 . His decision is both imminent and permanent

In O 'Connor 's story , A Good Man is Hard to Find ' the grandmother must choose upon whom to place her faith . She is fully resolute in her self-righteous notions about who is good and who is bad . For example she cannot stop harping on the dangers of traveling to Florida now that the Misfit is on the loose . She declares that I wouldn 't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it . I couldn 't answer to my conscience if I did (O 'Connor 495 . In A Good Man is Hard to Find ' the Misfit clearly represents the bad , while the unwelcome maxims of the grandmother represent the good

The speaker and the grandmother 's perceptions of faith are tested in each of these works . As he speaker evaluates his choices , he notes that while both path 's are fair ' or inviting , his chosen path has perhaps the better claim / Because it was grassy and wanted wear (Frost , lines 7-8 ) although both , at this time of the morning , seem the same , as he is the first traveler of the day : And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black (Frost , lines 11-12 . The grandmother 's choices are less evident . It appears that her decision to have faith is...