Why Is A Good Man Is Hard To Find Considered Southern Gothic?

The Southern Gothic genre is a subgenre of Gothic Fiction in American literature that takes place in the South of the United States. It is prevalent in literature from the 19th century to this day.
Characteristics of Southern Gothic include the presence of irrational, horrific, and transgressive thoughts, desires, and impulses; grotesque characters; dark humor, freakishness, violence, imprisonment, sinister settings, etc. It relies on these to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South. It is important to point out that most of these characteristics are closely connected to American historical realities such as slavery and racism.
First characteristic of Southern Gothic genre in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is its setting. The story takes place in the Southern state of Georgia. The family; father, mother, and three children were traveling to Florida with the grandmother. The grandmother considered herself to be above the blacks. It can clearly be seen in how the grandmother refers to black people as “negros” or “niggers”. This makes the novel connected to American historical realities racism.
The whole family starts a roadtrip but don´t get to the destination. They have an accident (caused by the grandmother’s cat) and fortunately nobody gets seriously hurt. However, they come across the Misfit and his henchmen and they all get killed.
As it can be seen, the plot is really simple and isolation is present. The violent action takes place in an isolated place; the car falls into a ditch in the middle of nowhere. The story can lead to different interpretations because events are just told in the way they take place and the characters are pretty dull. The only character who turns out to be sort of thoughtful is the Misfit. Flannery O’Connor represents the evil with this character, who has a dark mindset.
To sum up, the three characteristics: setting, simplicity and violence, make the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” a part of southern gothic genre.