In the article, “ One of my Babies: The Misfit and the Grandmother” by Stephen C. Bandy, the author Bandy studies the main characters those being the Grandmother and the Misfit. The articles main focus is on the religious belief, and to flaw the Grandmother real “values”. Bandy also shows the reader how in the beginning the Grandmother is known to be good spirited and faithful to her religion. The Grandmother’s character has a drastic turn point following the end of the story. She deceives her faith only accepting it for
Upon further evaluation into the psychological makeup of the Misfit, one can better understand the Misfit’s character and his desire to be free. At first, the Misfit appears well in the company of the family, but when the Misfit is identified as the escaped criminal, he becomes violent towards the family. Although many would assume that the Misfit is psychotic, he opts to kill the family in order to save himself from being put back in the federal
The Misfit claims he was convicted of a crime that was not committed and buried alive in prison for killing his father. Being made to suffer for a crime which was not committed does not seem fair to this character.. The Misfit quotes on page 509,” I never was a bad boy that I remember of...” The Misfit is not actually a bad person he may have been sexually abused in prison or experienced some form of domestic violence as a child. The story describes the character as a man, why then does he refer to himself as a boy? There is something which occurred in his childhood that triggered the Misfit to want to commit these violence.
This story by Flannery O’Conner has several different hidden themes in it. Two main themes include appearance, and fear. The main character, which is the grandmother has an interesting character. She judges people through appearance, including herself. She fears going to Florida because of a criminal so called the “Misfit” that she saw in the newspaper.
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor begins with the introduction of the grandmother. It can quickly be noted that this woman holds herself in high regard. Grandmother views herself as a prim and proper lady. However, she does not possess the qualities of a lady. She is dishonest, selfish, and hypocritical.
It doesn’t matter how death comes about because the inevitable end result of temporal existence is that everyone dies. This is the common denominator between all of the scenarios, but it is also one I found between Atwood’s F scenario and Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” as a family of three adults and two children are murdered. But here’s the twist. While these stories share a common conclusion, they are not about death. “Happy Endings” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is about life.
In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor, the grandmother influences her family to take a detour on a trip to Florida to see a plantation in Georgia. This maneuver leads them down a dangerous road ending in a car accident. The “Misfit” and his partners appear after the accident and murder the entire family. The grandmother’s self-serving character defines this story: by manipulating everyone who becomes in her path, her air of superiority and judgmental approach. The grandmother’s calculating personality is exposed in actions towards her family.
Because of this, The Misfit sees the world as a place that punishes the innocent and the guilty get away punishment free. John Desmond describes the Misfit as “a seeker who wants some answers to the mystery of evil he feels both in himself and witnesses in the world” (Desmons
The escaped “Misfit” takes the family into the woods in order to murder them. During the story there are moments in which the grandmother utilizes manipulation on the criminals as well as her own family members. In many ways it is a cynical example of how a selfish woman uses manipulation and religion to get what she wants but unable to save herself at the end. Religion Connotations in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” (O'Connor, 1953) O’Connor uses her infamous theme-the Holy spirit in everyday life situations- to set the underlying tone for the text. She demonstrates the religious struggles of characters by engaging the Misfit and Grandmother within a duel against each other therefore, learning the difference from reality and the superficial beliefs.
O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” takes a different approach in a good story by introducing a slew of crazy irony. All the irony gives the piece a vast dynamic in characters and themes. The first irony found in this story is the whole idea of the “Good Man”. The Grandma throughout many different scenarios in the story skewed the definition of a “Good Man” by using it until it became meaningless. She used it to describe Red Sammy after he let two people screw him over by letting them charge their gasoline.