God has a plan for all of his children that involves grace. Grace is forgiveness and the only true grace comes from God. God's grace is offered to all, regardless of religion or lack thereof. He reveals it when he is ready and in different ways. The real obstacle is whether the grace offered is realized and accepted or not. In “The River” by Flannery O'Connor an incapacitated child, Harry, is offered mercy. He has no idea what's going on, but he knows he's not happy with the life he lives now. Furthermore, in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” O'Connor challenges the self-centered grandmother and the socially unworthy misfit to find and accept grace. God gives all his children the opportunity to obtain grace whether they lack religion, are self-centered, or are socially unworthy. Harry doesn't know God or Jesus, yet he is still offered grace. Grandma receives grace despite her self-centeredness. The socially unworthy misfit is offered pardon despite being a convicted criminal, but he refuses it. In “The River” Harry (Bevel) Ashfield is a child who lacks the religious and spiritual guidance of his immoral parents and is treated as an afterthought at best. . He “is at the mercy of his rotten parents who treat him as nothing more than an inconvenience” (Sparrow 1). In his house everything is a joke and he is raised as if nothing matters (Sparrow 1). Although Harry is not materially deprived, he is spiritually malnourished. He does not know who God or Jesus is. In his home the words Jesus Christ or God are used in vain by his parents when they are in any way frustrated or angry (Capman 2). He has never been taught religion and lacks the appreciation and admiration necessary for… half the paper… and other stories.” Masterplots, fourth edition (2010): 1-2. Literary reference center. Network. February 21, 2014.O'Connor, Flannery. "A good man is hard to find." The complete stories. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1971. 117-133. Print.O'Connor, Flannery. "The river." The complete stories. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1971. 157-174. Print.Ochshorn, Kathleen G. “A Cloak of Grace: Contradictions in 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'.” Studies in American Fiction 18.1 (Spring 1990): 113-117. Rpt. in twentieth-century literary criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. vol. 132. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Network. February 8, 2014.Sparrow, Stephen. “Going Somewhere: Baptism and a Sense of Place in Flannery O'Connor's “The River.” Comforts of Home: The Flannery O'Connor Repository MediaSpecialist.org, March 4, 2004. Web. February 8. 2014.