Analysis Of Mark Twain's 'The Misfit'

Hannery O’ Connor’s short story is about a Misfit that has a conflict in his life which lead him into making bad decisions in the future that harm him. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, O’ Connor uses symbolic archetypes by using the grandmother as a symbol of love and care and also uses the Misfit as a symbol of violence and death. The situational archetype used is when the Misfit takes vengeance on people that come his way. This is because of self-petty. The setting archetype used in the short story takes place in the dirt road where all the violence happened. The character archetype is expressed on the Misfit being corrupt of his past. This short story covers all four archetypes.

As the Misfit shares his life story with the grandmother, he shows what a purposeless life he leads. In his anger towards his unjust treatment, he decides to devote his life to destroy the lives of others. In fact, he kills the grandmother and her entire family. However, after the Misfit completes his evil act, he says, “It’s no real pleasure in life” (O’Connor 508). Through his statement, the Misfit shows that his actions of evil towards others never bring him satisfaction and his life feels

The speaker’s grandmother is originally presented in a way that causes the ending to be a surprise, saying, “Her apron flapping in a breeze, her hair mussed, and said, ‘Let me help you’” (21-22). The imagery of the apron blowing in the wind characterizes her as calm, and when she offers to help her grandson, she seems to be caring and helpful. Once she punches the speaker, this description of her changes entirely from one of serenity and care to a sarcastic description with much more meaning than before. The fact that the grandmother handles her grandson’s behavior in this witty, decisive way raises the possibility that this behavior is very common and she has grown accustomed to handling it in a way that she deems to be effective; however, it is clearly an ineffective method, evidenced by the continued behavior that causes her to punish the speaker in this manner in the first place. It is likely ineffective not because the speaker is not learning about the consequences for his actions, but rather because he

The Grandmother is a well-dressed and a proper southern lady. She is also the center of action in the short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". The grandmother seems very suspicious at first, and thinks her son Bailey will be forever small and has to abide by her rules. In her eyes she is never been wrong but knows it all. When we become up-close and personal with the grandmother we see that she's this bad person, which she appears to be old-fashioned, manipulative, and self-serving as a whole.

Flannery O 'Connor 's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is certainly a surprising work of literature. With this story having a not so happy ending, it goes against all of the conventional ideas on what a typical storybook ending should be. Another unusual thing about "A Good Man is Hard to Find is the use of the term "good." It is thrown around excessively through the entire tale by the grandmother and even the Misfit seems to use this word as well. The interesting concept through the characters using this word is that they seem to be misusing it in a sense. The Grandmother and The misfit seem to classify the word "good" with things that are actually bad. With the terms "good" and "evil"

Redemption is the act of being saved from acts of evil and sin. The debate of whether human nature is redeemable or not has been one to plaque religious scholars. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, this question continues in the interactions between the characters; the most notable being the Grandmother of a rather horrible family and the Misfit, a murderer. While on a road trip, these two characters’ paths collide and lead to a rather unfortunate end where the Grandmother and her family are killed. While many readers believe the ending creates and overall negative tone of the story, some believe that there is a hope for redemption; the story’s author O’Connor who is a devoted Catholic included. Even though human nature is flawed within Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, there is a chance for redemption near the story’s ending.

evil, etc. In terms of religion as a way to save herself or her “soul” she prayed and begged for forgiveness. Though not only did she beg for forgiveness for herself but likewise for the misfit in an attempt to get him to let her go. This types into the theme of good vs evil. In some ways, you could argue that both the misfit like the grandma are both good and evil. At the end, although the grandmother had made the misfit rethink his actions he had to regrettably kill her at the end. There was a moment of truth here, though, and that was that people are inherently flawed no matter how much good they are perceived to be. It is rather the acceptance of this flaw that creates better human

When the grandmother reaches out to touch The Misfit in her "moment of grace" and says to him, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (366). She seems to be filled with love and understanding towards him. Her moment of grace allows her to see the Misfit as a fellow human being in pain and feels obligated to love him, just like the Bible asks you to: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” (6:27). O 'Connor presents both the view of the Misfit as a fellow human being in pain, and the feeling of love for him, as a gift from God. The grandmother as a human being, is prone towards evil and selfishness, so she could never have come to feel such love without God 's help, as this man was going to kill her. This moment of grace is incredibly important in the story. The Misfit kills the grandmother, withdrawing from her and what seems foreign to him (human compassion), but the grandmother already had her moment of redemption. The grandmother grew in that moment of death more than she ever did in the little parts that we read about her life, and she dies in peace. Her actions may have even changed the Misfit too. At the end, he says “she would have been a good woman if he 'd been there all her life to shoot her.” (366). This line confused me the first time reading it, but the second time around it made more sense. The grandmother felt redeemed by confronting the “evil” in the Misfit and finding the capability within herself to

Flannery O’Connor is known for her grotesque tales, and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is no exception. The story follows a family’s journey to Florida and their encounter with a wanted criminal, the Misfit. Unfortunately, the family is quickly killed off by the Misfit’s henchmen, leaving the Grandmother alone trying to persuade the Misfit to not kill her. O’Connor presents the ending in an ambiguous way, asking readers if the Misfit will remain to be the same criminal he was after confronting the Grandmother. O’Connor implements details to convey that the Misfit was positively affected by the Grandmother.

Throughout the story she places judgement, she lies and manipulates her family, and she proves to only care for herself. She does all of this while claiming to be a lady, and holding herself is higher regard than everyone else around her. She continually shows that she is not lady, and she is also doing the things that she looks down upon other for, This is an example of a true hypocrite. Another shining example of her hypocrisy is shown when she brings up religion when speaking to The Misfit. “Do you ever pray?(258).” “‘If you would pray,’ the old lady said, ‘Jesus would help you’(259).” These quotes imply that the grandmother is a Christian. As a Christian, judgement, lies, manipulation, and selfishness should not fall under her terms. However, they do. This grandmother is a true hypocrite, and it shows from the

In the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the author, Flannery O'Connor, demonstrates how a family vacation can quickly face a violent end, caused by a criminal known as “The Misfit.” Looking at the short story through a feminist point of view, one can quickly gather that O’Connor uses the traditional gender roles right from the beginning of the story.

The grandmother uses Jesus as a scapegoat to show how she is a child of God while the Misfit tells of how he really perceives Jesus and that there is no justification of his actions. In the event of the car accident, the Grandmother was left with a physical crisis that quickly showed as her family was sent off into the woods to be killed one by one. This soon transitioned to a spiritual crisis both between the Grandmother and the Misfit as she uses Jesus's name to try and escape her fate. This spiritual crisis leads the characters to express their personal conception of reality and how they perceive the revelation of the situation that they are in. The Grandmother has a sense that reality should revolve around her and that she should manipulate tools such as religion to benefit her outcome. The Misfit is seen as being a part of reality and only believing what he sees with physical evidence. He also stays true to his morals of what he believes is right and wrong, especially when it comes to showing the equality of no mercy among the family members. Both characters reveal their use of Jesus, the spiritual battle that inhibits them and their concepts of reality. All of this gives insight to how there are no good or bad characters at the finale of this story. The battle of morality between the two characters only shows the

In the article, “An Appeal to Maryland Voters, for my Mom”, the author Chrysovalantis P. Kefalas, shows how his argument on why the ruling of the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional, is justified. Kefalas defends this action this action to show that despite religious views, authorities and laws should not hinder others from happiness and living a life that they desire. His argument take words directly from a widely used source to show that there is reason on both the sides of the law, and religion. He appeals to the Audience’s emotions by describing personal afflictions with himself and the beliefs he once had, and how his situation has affected his life as well as his family. His use of Ethos, Pathos and Logos give his argument a natural balance that can be seen from both sides, making it strong and effective.

In the short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the grandmother's superficial goodness towards other individuals is significant to contrast with the evil "The Misfit" obtains. For the duration of the story, the grandmother fears "The Misfit" and strives to avoid the evil he possesses; however, we learn it is inevitable that his existence will eventually encompass her when they make acquaintance. The Misfit seamlessly endangers others with the careless actions he perpetrates, and in return, displays minimal remorse. Readers of the story may easily be perplexed by the motives the Misfit obtains to commit heinous acts onto innocent victims; however, lack of religious conscience, moral blindness and intermittent conversation with the grandmother

Characters serve as the metaphorical foundation upon which a story is written. In fact, the personalities of characters often reveal the outcome of a story’s plot before the author explicitly states it. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the self-indulgent grandmother portrays the outcome of her attempted evangelism through her sanctimonious nature. Through her illegitimate Christian appearance based on deceit and self-elevation, her failed attempt to persuade the Misfit can be attributed to her hypocritical personality.