“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant reveal two women with serious character flaws: excessive pride, destructive arrogance. Pride has perplexed philosophers and theologians for centuries; it is a particularly complex emotion. It can be what we imagine ourselves to be: worthy, admirable, honest, infallible; and not necessarily who we are. We applaud individualism, self-respect, and personal excellence, but too much pride can easily tip the scales toward vanity, selfishness, and greed. The grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is a manipulative character determined to get what she wants. Similarly, Mathilde in “The Collana” is a resentful protagonist who feels she deserves a better life. In both characters we see how excessive pride can be complicated by a lack of self-awareness and excessive self-esteem, leading each woman to a ruinous outcome. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The grandmother in O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" sees herself as morally superior to others by virtue of being a "lady." In fact, he dresses for travel complete with white gloves and a hat. O'Connor writes: "Only in the event of an accident, anyone who saw her dead on the highway would know that she was once a lady." Unlike the daughter-in-law who wears trousers and ties her hair with handkerchiefs. He longs for the time of “good people” and often lectures his grandchildren about respect, respect “for the native state of their parents and everything else.” The irony is that he manipulates his family and judges individuals based on their superficial appearances and behaviors. With selfish intentions he tries to convince his family to travel to Florida in an attempt to avoid the Misfit, but ends up setting them on the path of the killer by convincing Bailey, his son, to take a back road to see an old house he remembers. Not telling the truth he said: “There was a secret panel in this house”. She calls Red Sammy a "good man" simply because he gassed two strangers, which doesn't necessarily make him a good man. Ironically, he also refers to Misfit as a good man due to his calm demeanor and favorable appearance. Despite her certainty that she can judge a good man from a bad person, Grandma fails to recognize that the Misfit is a sociopath and a ruthless killer. As much as Grandma portrays herself as a good “lady,” her manipulative and foolish behavior costs the lives of her entire family – and it costs her own life, too. Mathilde in Maupassant's “The Necklace” is dissatisfied with life. She is a cute and charming girl who, as if by a mistake of fate, was "born into a family of office workers". Instead of accepting her position in life, she feels deceived. He has many flaws, but the most obvious are his greed for material things and inability to admit the truth. Her pride allows her to feel entitled to an elegant life and she is angry because she cannot purchase the jewelry and clothes she wants. Maupassant writes: "He fretted constantly, feeling that all things delicate and luxurious were his birthright." In addition to the desire for material things, she desires to be the object of others' desires and to be envied by other women. Wanting to appear rich in the eyes of the other women at the ball, she buys a new dress and borrows a diamond necklace from a rich friend, which turns out to be a harbinger of her death. She had a great time at the ball: "She was prettier than all of them, lovely, kind, 2019.