Flannery O’Connor‘s short story “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” was written in 1953 and became a part of the short stories book with the same name. The central protagonist of this story is a family’s presumably religious grandmother, whose name, unlike the other characters, the author does not mention. The family, together with grandmother, travels to Florida, which makes grandma angry, as she wanted to go to Tennessee.

During a stopover for lunch, in a conversation with Red Sammy, an owner of the tavern, she discusses the recently escaped prisoner, called “The Misfit”, concluding together with Red Sammy that a good man at nowadays is hard to find. Hiding her name, the author from the beginning of the story reveals the selfish grandma’s nature, seeking to manipulate others to fulfill her desires.

In his short story “The Cask of Amontillado“, Edgar Allan Poe tells how one of two protagonists takes revenge on the other for some insult, not described by the author. It takes place in medieval Italy, and is told on behalf of the murderer, who immured his offender, Fortunato, alive in the wine cellar of the Montresor’s (avenger’s family) palace. The action takes place in two different locations – in the head of the murderer, where we see sober-blooded thoughts of revenge, and the cellar of his house, filled with barrels of wine, and littered with human bones.

In a dialogue with the victim, who was lured into the cellar on the pretext of tasting wine, they affect the Montresor family’s coat of arms, which shows the foot, pressing a snake – the obvious symbolism of revenge. A motto of the Montresor’s house – Nemo me impune latsessit (“No one attacks me with impunity” in Latin), leaves no doubt that Fortunato was not the first who fell the victim of revenge in this catacomb, which was unambiguously confirmed by the human bones, scattered everywhere around the cellar.

“A Raisin in the Sun” debuted on Broadway in 1959. The play’s author Lorraine Hansberry is the first black woman, whose play was staged at Broadway. The director of this production was also the first black man on this position.

The play “A Raisin in the Sun” tells the story of the African-American family Youngers, who suddenly get an insurance check for $10,000 after the Mr Younger’s decease. Each family member has his/her own idea about how to handle the money. Mom wants to invest in buying a house. The eldest son, Walter, wants to invest them in a liquor store in partnership with his friends, which, he believes, will once and for all solve the financial problems of the family. Tthe eldest daughter, Beneatha, is going to spend money on medical education. In addition, she does not share the desire of the family to reach the world of white people, giving her preference to Africa.

Short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Birth-Mark”, is one of the best from the entire Hawthorne’s short stories collection “Mosses from an Old Manse”. The two main protagonists of this story are the beautiful young woman called Georgiana, and her husband Aylmer, the scientist, “proficient in every branch of natural philosophy,” as ironically written by author. On her cheek Georgiana has a single crimson birthmark, which many find quite attractive, but her husband is not one of them, and on the contrary, believes that this is the only flaw that spoils the perfect beauty.

This idea took hold of him more and more, and he could not adequately react to the sight of the birthmark. Finally, Georgiana with Aylmer decided to remove the birthmark. To do that, they came to the Aylmer’s laboratory, where he was working with his assistant, Aminadab, who helped him with preparations, meanwhile thinking that if Georgiana were his wife, he would not remove the birthmark.