What are some main points that "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Cathedral" have in common?

Question

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner and "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. I have to write a essay and I'm having trouble finiding a topic concerning these two stories that I can write about...

Answer 1

Both stories are about a cantankerous, obnoxious, but basically decent person who isn't much concerned with other people's points of view. They think more about how they themselves are feeling. Still, now and then a warmth shows through. Both of them are unwittingly confronted with themes of religion, due to interaction with a stranger. Both seem to have received a kind of spiritual grace at the end. They have received a kind of spiritual vision.

Answer 2

There really isn't a lot in common between the two stories; the only thing I can think of is that the grandma and the narrator are kind of similar: they are both self-centered, cause pain to others without caring, and so forth. But while the narrator kind of changes at the end, the grandma doesn't (except by dying, of course)