A Good Man is Hard to Find: Plot Summary

Full Book Summary

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” follows a family from Georgia on a road trip to Florida. The family consists of the grandmother, her son Bailey, his wife, and their three children, John Wesley, June Star, and a baby.

The grandmother is a manipulative and self-centered woman who wants to visit a plantation that she once visited as a young girl. She convinces Bailey to change their plans and take a detour to the plantation. On the way, she reminisces about the past and talks about a serial killer, known as The Misfit, who has recently escaped from prison. The family disregards her warnings and continue on their journey.

When they stop at a restaurant, they encounter a group of rough-looking men, including The Misfit himself, who is disguised as a harmless bystander. The family leaves the restaurant and continues on their journey, but the grandmother realizes that they have taken a wrong turn. As they drive down a desolate dirt road, their car crashes into a ditch.

As the family waits for help, they see a car approaching. To their horror, they realize that it’s The Misfit and his accomplices. The Misfit orders his men to take Bailey and his son John Wesley to the woods to be executed. The rest of the family is taken into the woods where they are also executed one by one.

The grandmother tries to manipulate The Misfit into sparing her life by telling him that he is a good man. The Misfit, however, is not swayed by her flattery and ends up shooting her too. In the end, The Misfit comments that the grandmother would have been a good woman if she had been able to live a little longer and come to a realization that life is pointless.