Flannery O Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Life allows people to create experiences and understand the world. When given the choice between life or death, many will do whatever it takes to survive. However, when placed in the hands of a killer, the victim should not convince the assassin reasons not to kill him or her, for this will only cause further problems, and this is exactly what the grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find did. Towards the end of the story, the grandmother comes face to face with the Misfit in attempts to persuade him not to kill her; however, through the grandmother’s inability to understand the Misfit and her lack of knowledge when pleading for her life, the Misfit should not have shown any empathy towards her.

Beginning with the value of religion, the grandmother

She places too much trust into the Misfit believing the he “won’t shoot a lady, would you?” (7) because of the men’s gender roles: men are taught not to harm a lady. However, the grandmother disregards the injustice the Misfit experienced, which is the reason for her lack of logic when using gender roles as an argument. It is highly possible the Misfit is killing others so they can experience the unfairness he experienced. By conducting these misconducts such as murdering a family, he feels this as a compensation for what the American justice system had done to him. The Misfit was even willing to kill the wife, too, in order to feel justified. As stated in the story, the Misfit asked the children’s mother, “Lady, would you and that little girl like to step off yonder with Bobby Lee and Hiram and join your husband” (10). In other words, the Misfit is asking the mother if she would like to be killed along with her daughter. If the Misfit is willing to kill even a mother and daughter, both females, then he has no trouble killing the grandmother. Therefore, while the grandmother did try to find reasonable arguments, it seems she is finding any excuse to survive, which is the reason for her lack of logic to persuade the criminal. Understanding the Misfit is a dogmatic person, there are little to no arguments that will truly convince him of letting the grandmother go.

From her unpersuasive arguments to her unappealing character, the grandmother does not prove why she should not be killed. The grandmother repeatedly says, “You’ve got blood! I know you won’t shoot a lady” (10)! When saying this, she was only looking out for herself. She did not care for her son, Bailey, nor his family, and this represents the cruel nature of humans: being selfish. Throughout the story, the grandmother has shown her selfishness. In order to visit one of her homes, she lied to the children about the home having a secret passageway when there was not. And, even as the family neared towards the home the grandmother wanted to visit, the grandmother realized her mistake. Yet, she does not mention this fault, for the fear of Bailey will become angry with her (6). The grandmother represents a large population of the Earth which is selfish people. It was due to her inconsiderate actions that lead to the deaths of the Bailey family. Thus, the Misfit should not have shown greater empathy towards the grandmother because of her constant selfishness as shown throughout the story. Not to mention, her inability to understand the Misfit and her unpersuasive arguments lead to the killing of the