ipl-logo

How Does Flannery O Connor Show The Mentality Of The Weather

716 Words3 Pages

Writers have always used the weather as an indicator to an aspect of a story. The sun repressing good times; the rain is the sadness, and storms are eerie and dark. Flannery O’Connor is no different. However, she chooses it to show us the mentality of the characters. The changes of the weather throughout the story represent each of Grandma and the Misfit’s state of mind and their religious faiths. Meeting the Misfit was the last thing that the family ever did and what led them to their deaths. When the trip first started, we are told it was a beautiful day, “neither too hot nor too cold” and “the trees were full of silver-white sunlight” (O’Connor 35). We can see the weather staying the same when the family stopped by ‘The Tower’. We learn …show more content…

But when Grandma realizes who it was, the first thing she does is cry and worry about her life and no one else’s. This is when we see the changes in the sky. The Misfit draws attention to it saying, “Ain’t a cloud in the sky… Don’t see no sun but don’t see no cloud neither” (O’Connor 42). Grandma then calls it a beautiful day. It could symbolize the Misfits own state-of-mind and hints us of his emptiness. But it also shows us Grandma’s hypocrisies. He brought up the fact that he has no memories of what he did that put him in jail in the first place, but feels no regret and remorse for the lives he has taken. We can think the same of Grandma as she shows no care to the other members of the family as they get killed off in the woods. She still says the Misfit that he is a ‘good man’ to spare …show more content…

Learning the Misfit’s belief, we can understand why he does the things he does. He questions the existence of Jesus and how He “thown everything off balance” (O’Connor 45). The Misfit simply states that if He was real, then drop everything and blindly follow. If he was not, enjoy what we can in this life. Grandma has a moment of realization and connects with him. However, the Misfit is frightened and shoots her. She dies in a prayer position with “her face smiling up at the cloudless sky” (O’Connor 45). We can view this as Grandma accepting her own sins and hypocrisy in her final act in the world. However, it is not only her that changed in the end. The Misfit’s last words are “It’s no real pleasure in life” when previously he stated the

Show More
Related

Examples Of Narcissism In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

1640 Words | 7 Pages

When faced with death, the grandma desperately tries to utilize religion as a last attempt to save herself as she remarks “”If you would pray,”...”Jesus would help you””(O’Connor, 130) , it acts as her final act  of selfishness. Her immaturity in her faith is exposed when she begins saying “” Jesus, Jesus”” … “as if she might be cursing” (O’Connor, 131). Her egotism was so rampant that she was even willing to attempt to take advantage of Jesus to try and get her own way. However, the grandma goes through a genuine remarkable transformation at the end of the story as God “cleared her head for an instant” and allowed her to see her flaws and how similar her and the Misfit were. She realized that no matter how bad the things the Misfit had done were, her sins were just as bad as his.

Read More

Tradition Depicted In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

998 Words | 4 Pages

Unfortunately, since Misfit didn’t have any proof he therefore lives his life by his own moral code. This contradicts the grandmother because the grandmother claimed to be very religious and tried to show that to Misfit. On page 230, line 110, of LIT by Kirszner & Mandell, the grandmother says, “Pray, pray, pray, pray…” She wanted Misfit to pray with her but he doesn’t end up doing that since he isn’t religious. In the end, the grandmother’s faith had faltered right before she was about to be murdered.

Read More

Psychological Lens Essay On A Good Man Is Hard To Find

577 Words | 3 Pages

In this moment, the grandmother realizes that she has a commonality with the Misfit, and that they both truly do have some good in them. Her observation that his face was momentarily like hers causes her to see the emotion that the Misfit is experiencing, and she makes the connection between his emotion and hers. She finally is transformed by this realization and her own actions of kindness, as she died and “her face [smiled] up at the cloudless sky” (212). The goodness that the grandmother had been seeking throughout the entire story had at last been realized through her own actions of kindness toward the Misfit, who was also momentarily affected and taken back by her grace towards

Read More

Examples Of Misfit Philosophies

203 Words | 1 Pages

has looked into his decisions and he is trying to find the good from his experiences. He feels he deserves more than what he got, so he went on and changed his name, he also believed that he did not get the right punishment for his crime. The misfit has self awareness that the grandmother doesn't know of cause he questioned himself and his actions, he knows he is not a good person but he also believes he is better than many people. He even admitted he was a gospel singer before he did something and was sent to the penitentiary and was buried alive. He had some made up rudimentary philosophies, such as ““the crime don’t matter” and “no pleasure but meanness”.

Read More

The Use Of Glasses In A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Good Country People

1014 Words | 5 Pages

The misfit in this short story is described as a traditional “good man” by the grandmother. For example, the misfit’s statement after Bailey shouts at the grandmother,

Read More

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Irony Analysis

670 Words | 3 Pages

The Misfit knows who he is and does not pretend to be otherwise, unlike the old lady. With a show of unpretentiousness, he clearly states, “Nome, I ain’t a good man” (O’Connor 427). In the end, the antagonist enlightens the Grandmother with his brutal honesty, and her “head cleared for an instance” (O’Connor 430). In the final moments of her life, she is able to drop all pretenses and view evil in the form of the Misfit as something she can accept within herself by exclaiming, “Why you’re one of my babies” (O’Connor 430). Ironically, at the moment she reaches out to him, he kills her.

Read More

A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

904 Words | 4 Pages

(O’Connor 417). In society, The Misfit is considered a criminal and a deviant, while the Grandmother would be perceived as an innocent, old woman. When looking at both of the characters actions one might say that The Misfit is more morally wrong than the Grandmother because he kills her in the end, however, the Grandmother is consistently manipulative and self-serving to the point of indirectly killing her family.

Read More

Hard To Find Foreshadowing

1080 Words | 5 Pages

In contrast, after recognizing the Misfit and putting her and her family into an inescapable situation, the Grandmother finally drops all of her negative traits and turns to God for help. “The grandmother noticed how thin his shoulder

Read More

A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor

714 Words | 3 Pages

Undoubtedly, she presents herself as a poor Christian that only calls for God’s forgiveness out of selfish reasons or when she truly needs saving. Although she presents herself as a good woman, she is “unable to see herself as the habitual liar she is” (McDermott). The Grandmother’s frantic attempt at a righteous act of compassion illustrates her sentimental bond with the Misfit. Despite the Grandmother’s seemingly desperate outreach towards the Misfit, this conflict tests her own religious beliefs and the balance of her own good will in her final moments. In addition, the Grandmother’s effort to physically reach out towards the Misfit symbolizes his close proximity with

Read More

Manipulation In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

786 Words | 4 Pages

She is only trying to convince the misfit that he is a good man because she wants to be freed, and her life is in shambles. Also, the grandmother has already gone back on her word multiple of times, calling the misfit a big, bad, and scary man. Now all of the sudden he is a good man. Therefore, the grandmother still has not changed a

Read More

Gender Roles In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

1208 Words | 5 Pages

Viewing The Misfit as a tragic figure, we sympathize with his actions and feel remorse for who he has become. The readers see him as a victim and sympathize for his actions, including killing the elderly Grandmother. Although he is an awful person, because he is a male character, it is acceptable for him to have issues, but it is not acceptable for a woman to have any sort of issue. As the Misfits says, “She would have been a good woman...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (O’Connor), this suggests that the Grandmother was an awfully annoying woman, but if she had a man there to keep her in line, she would have been a decent

Read More

The Misfit Character Analysis

792 Words | 4 Pages

The Misfit introduced briefly at the beginning of the story and is seen as an unrealistic character and too many as a lie from the grandmother to change the family plan. However, as the story continued, we got to know the Misfit for what he really is. He’s a murderer who doesn’t feel anything anymore. The Misfit is not your typical villain. When talking to the grandmother, He seemed to have a soft side to him, even though he ends up murdering her.

Read More

Good Man Is Hard To Find Response

1016 Words | 5 Pages

The Misfit 's mind is one of the most complicated of any villain in O 'Connor’s stories and in all literature. His mental state is most evident in "the scene between the Grandmother and the Misfit at the climax of the story" (Walls 3) This recent escapee 's psyche can be described as "tails short of the athlete’s morality, for he plays by no one 's rules except his own" (Fike). This mental state is typical of most criminals but the Misfit’s perception on religion is not so conventional. Usually, when a person commits a heinous act and if the person is spiritual they will say God told them to do it.

Read More

Character Analysis: A Good Man Is Hard To Find

1405 Words | 6 Pages

As the grandmother signals for help, the Misfit and his companions, sit in the car studying the scene before them. The Misfit has no shirt on because he had to bury his as we later find out. The grandmother, recognizing the men after a moment calls them out, this seemingly being the reason he kills them. From here we learn he is of southern blood, meaning nothing to him of course, but never the less the grandmother tries to use it against his conscience. We also find out that his father saw him as different from his siblings, “a different breed of dog” that has to ask why.

Read More

Violence In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

1393 Words | 6 Pages

The violence that we do not get to see for ourselves are the crimes the Misfit committed before the story began. The story begins with the grandmother telling Bailey to “read here what it says he did to these people’” (O’Connor 575). These crimes are violent murders that the Misfit committed beforehand. This displays the criminal world that we live in.

Read More

More about How Does Flannery O Connor Show The Mentality Of The Weather

Related Topics

Open Document