“Whoever is careless with the truth in minor issues cannot be trusted with important matters,” Albert Einstein acknowledged that honesty and integrity are the important characteristics that can define a good character. Whoever is dishonest cannot be good as written by essay services online in my essay. Individuals ought to put emphasis on this point as some people believe that it is normal to tell lies or cheat when dealing with small issues. It is quite hard to trust individuals who exhibit dishonesty regarding petty issues, especially when it comes to handling major issues. Since the individuals lie when handling small issues, there are likely to lie when dealing with greater issues. For example, a student who cheats when doing his/her homework displays a greater likelihood to cheat on his/her exams. The little lies such individuals tell normally lead to big problems. Most people may display some level of dishonesty since they have the propensity for telling small or white lies. Dealing with such people for a relatively long time, I have developed an easy way of detecting whether they are lying or not. Most individuals regard honesty as a virtue that depicts good character of individual. People who lie concerning little issues tend to think that their ability to tell lies covers harsh reality or enables them to be nice; however, it results in the opposite effects. Flannery O'Connor says, “a good man is hard to find.” Such statement is true because most individuals portray dishonesty and carelessness as illustrated by the unnamed grandmother and the misfit in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Michael Obi in “Dead Men's Path.”

Although the unnamed grandmother from O'Conner's “A Good Man is Hard to Find” believes that she is a “good” woman, she exhibits dishonesty and selfishness in the way she suppresses the truth. She considers herself as a polite and respectable woman. While her perception of what characterizes a good person includes such attributes as grooming and politeness. Such perception encourages her to dress up nicely in a navy blue straw sailor hat with...white violet on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot...her collars and cuffs were white... in order to emphasize her womanhood. She prefers dying her hair and acquiring the respectable appearance to striving to acquire the real characteristics of a good woman. Appearance is of prime importance to her, and it even surpasses the importance of her life. In the beginning of the story, her dishonesty and selfishness comes out when she hides her cat in the car and secretly brings it along. Although her intention of bringing the cat is to prevent it from accidentally asphyxiating itself, she does not consider Bailey, her son, who does not like going out with cats. Also, the grandmother lies about remembering the road to the “secret panel,” when in reality, she does not recall its location. She keeps quiet and refrains from telling the truth when she realizes that the house is in another state. The house she remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee, but she refrains from mentioning this fact. She refuses to admit the mistake she made concerning the house’s location. Even though telling the truth may prevent her family from dying, she chooses to persist with her lying tendency. Despite the importance of sticking to the truth, the grandmother embraces selfishness, which causes the family to face murder executed by three criminals. The murder occurred since the family members took a wrong route that led directly to the criminals’ territory. Grandmother’s tendency to insist on visiting this insignificant house was the actual cause of the murder of her entire family. She totally reveals herself as an extremely selfish woman when she talks to the Misfit, one of the criminals. She clearly knows that the criminals are about to kill her and her entire family but makes no efforts to save her family. Instead, she tries to persuade them to not kill her, “You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?” She does not care about the rest of her family since she focuses on her own life only rather than tries to protect her loved ones. She engages in this selfish dialogue since she considers her life more valuable compared to the lives of other family members.

The Misfit's evil mind and his violent behavior illustrates that he is not a good person. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Misfit and his fellows meet Bailey's family and kill them with their guns. Even though some people doubt the degree of evilness the Misfit portrays, John Desmond in “Flannery O'Conner's Misfit and the Mystery of Evil” argues that the attitude of the Misfit exemplifies his good side. In the story, the Misfit reveals his deeper desires for people to understand him by relying on how he perceives himself. He calls himself the Misfit because he knows that what he has done is not acceptable in the society. The Misfit also exemplifies his goodness where he acknowledges his own evil nature. When the grandmother calls him “good,” he rejects it since he is fully aware of the wrong things that happen within the society, which makes him accept imprisonment. He is good enough for his sense of evil. Despite his sense of evilness, he chooses to “forget” the truth about how he killed his father. It was a leading doctor at the penitentiary who said that I killed my daddy, but I know that it was a lie. He goes on to proclaim that the crime does not matter. His argument is that when a person kills a man or removes a tire from the vehicle, with time, they tend to forget about it and react harshly when they are punished. The Misfit and his fellowmen kill the entire family at the end of the story. Despite the consequences of a murder, the Misfit’s cold-bloodedness causes him to derive pleasure from killing people and burning houses. Eventually, he becomes crueler when he decides to kill the grandmother who tries to embrace him as a son.

Michael Obi, the main character of Chinua Achebe’s short story “Dead Men's Path,” is also a selfish and stubborn person who only desires to acquire fame by attempting to modernize an old school. In his quest, he fails to pay attention to other people’s beliefs and opinions. An old school administration appoints Michael Obi as the headmaster to oversee the modernization of the school. Such role compels him and his wife to make major changes in the school and initiate beatification initiatives. In an attempt to resolve the issue concerning a path that connects the school with the village, villagers end up ruining the beautification initiative after failing to compromise their stance on the issue. Despite this setback, Michael Obi is full of responsibility and enthusiasm as he wants to see the effect of his efforts to improve the school’s appearance and facilitate its development. His quest for perfection causes him to neglect villagers’ advice concerning the importance of the path since it connects the village shrine with the community’s place of burial. The path between the school and the village symbolizes the lives and deaths of community members and elements of modernism and traditionalism. The villagers believed that the pathway has some spiritual aspects, but Michael regarded the pathway as an impediment to his attempt to modernize and beautify the school. His fear of letting the villagers cross the path and the possibility of the school inspector witnessing them cross the path made Michael block the path with heavy sticks and barbed wire. Fellow teacher tried to warn him about the consequences of changing the villagers’ traditions and rapidly introducing modernization, but he did not heed their plea. His selfishness and stubbornness clearly comes out when he tries to negotiate with the priest. Although he suggests constructing another pathway, Michael has narrow views that prevent him from opening his heart to traditional ideas such as the path’s historical and spiritual significance. The main reason that prevents him from being a good man is his tendency to overlook the essential needs that other society members require. His selfishness causes him to declare that their vital duty is to teach children to laugh at such ideas. Michael Obi displays careless attitude towards other people's beliefs and opinions. He focuses on satisfying his supervisors’ wishes at the expense of the importance the pathway plays in community members’ lives.

Although there is no definition of “good people” in the dictionary, the values, morals, judgment, and decisions that people display form a platform that defines their nature. Learning to be honest, faithful, loving, and caring is important as it develops good character features of an individual. Michael Obi, grandmother, and the Misfit are not good people because they lack all these elements.