A Good Man Is Hard to Find: The Misfit and The Grandmother

Compare/Contrast Character Analysis Paper

A Good Man is Hard to Find: The Misfit and The Grandmother

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, depicts a contrast of good and evil however, it shows how the enactment of good and evil is not as evident as it appears. The Grandmother perceives herself as a moralistically good character though her actions deem to create a downfall for the family. On the other hand the misfit is targeted at the audience as an evil character who is a cold-blooded killer; his intentions are justified by his unworldly perceptions of people.

The grandmother is the central character in the story. The grandmother is a manipulative, deceitful, and self-serving woman who lives in the past. She doesn't value her life as it is, but glorifies what it was like long ago. This woman will do whatever it takes to get what she wants and she doesn't let anyone else's feelings stand in her way. She tries to justify her demands by convincing herself and her family that her way is the best way and really the only way. The grandmother is determined to change her family's vacation destination as she tries to manipulate her son into going to Tennessee instead of Florida. She began trying to make Bailey, her son, feel guilty about the children's safety. The grandmother says that "she couldn't answer to her conscience if she took the children in a direction where there was a convict on the loose." She is not successful with Bailey, so she uses the same antics on her daughter-in-law who doesn't even acknowledge her. The Grandmother leads the family down the dirt road by enticing the children with stories of a plantation she visited in her youth. The Grandmother lets her selfish thoughts lead her, and her family to doom. Once on the dirt road, the family has an accident, another situation that was spurred by Grandmother. After the family has the accident they encounter the Misfit. Eventually one after another is shot and killed by the Misfit. The Grandmother is the last one to be executed.

The Misfit can evidently be described as a man who has had a rough upbringing and because of his experiences in life he has become twisted. He is seen as a character determined to kill for pleasure, consequently, causing other people to experience the injustice he has suffered throughout his life. The character that first appears to be confused about life and religion but later comes across as more knowledgeable about religion than the Grandmother herself. Towards the end of the story it was interesting to note how the Misfit remarked on the life and death brought about the family and especially the Grandmother which send them to there god. His reasons are rationed towards to send his victims to god.

At the initial meeting of the Misfit and the Grandmother, it was easy to see the Misfit as the bad guy and the Grandmother as the innocent one. But from the moralistic perspective, their positions can’t be justified. The grandmother is selfish, as the story illustrates from the beginning, and the misfit is a criminal who takes pleasure in killing, both of them are in some way serving their own causes, and portraying self-love. Both of them bring these selfish desires into the closing dialogue of the story. The misfit is out to kill and the grandmother is