Family Relationships in Fiction Family relationships played an integral part in the writings of Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, and Andre Dubus. Each author showed the importance of family in situations that the characters encountered. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," O'Connor showed how a fairly average family dealt with a difficult situation. In Faulkner's short story, "Barn Burning," a family struggled to decide which was more important: family loyalty or doing the right …showed first 75 words of 1064 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1064 total…important part of literature. The grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" dealt with the brutal murders of her family, and later faced death herself. In "Barn Burning," Sarty had to choose between righteousness and loyalty to his family. Matt chose to try to end the pain brought on by Frank's murder himself. Although each family had to endure great tragedy, each dealt with it differently while appreciating the value of family relationships.