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The Misfit Analysis

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Works of literature are a form of art, and in order to be able to extract meaning from a work of art, the theory of art is used. This theory is a way to explain how art is made, and for what purpose. Through it, one can understand and analyze works of art. The origin of these works comes from the fact that all people experience the world, and from their experiences develop a worldview, i.e. a set of beliefs based on personal experience of how things work in the world. A subset of all the people experiencing the world and developing worldviews are artists, such as authors. The works of art generated by artists are expressions of their worldview, brought to light by their art. This art includes authors’ literary works, which can be analyzed …show more content…

He states he is just the result of an unfair and unjust system that does not punish him for the crimes he actually committed, and that if he “had been there [when Jesus raised the dead, he] would have known [if Jesus truly did raise the dead] and [he] wouldn’t be like [he is] now” (DiYanni 195). The Misfit views the world as meaningless, as everyone will be punished no matter what. He believes that if he had seen Jesus raise the dead, then he would know for sure to give up everything and follow Jesus. However, as The Misfit does not know for sure if Jesus raised the dead, he states that there is nothing to do but enjoy the few moments of life you have in the best way one can, which he defines as meanness directed to others. He reached this conclusion because he believes his first incarceration was unlawful, and based on false charges. He calls himself The Misfit “because [he] can’t make what all [he’s] done wrong fit what [he’s] gone through in punishment” (DiYanni 195). This means that he views his convictions as punishments he did not deserve, but he would receive no matter what he did. His reaction to the comment that there was some fun in killing the family, from Bobby Lee, an accomplice, is telling of this worldview. He retorts that there is no real pleasure in life. His lack of pleasure in life arises from his worldview that nothing matters, life is only a few fleeting moments, and he will be punished no matter what he

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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”.

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The grandmother wants to convince the killer he is an acceptable person: “You shouldn’t call yourself the Misfit because I know you're a good man at heart. I can just look at you and tell” (O’Connor). The grandmother feels that she knows the Misfit is a righteous person by the way he looks, but he is a killer and not a good person. The grandmother's sins are her selfishness and pride. The Misfit has a lot of sins including killing numerous different people: “The Misfit is troubled by the evil in the world even though he is a contributor.

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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

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The Misfit was a purely evil character while the Grandmother had good intentions. Color symbolism was used throughout the story to give an insight of what is going to happen eventually. The animals also played a large portion of the symbolism attached to… The Misfit along with Hiram and Bobby Lee were all purely evil characters that killed everyone in his way.

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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.

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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.

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As opposed to the Grandmothers constant change of morals to favor certain situations, the Misfit has morals that are set in stone and adhere to his past, present and future. As the two characters converse, religion sparks an interest in the Misfit because it is something he is interested in understanding but knowing it must not be true. He believes that he must see it with his own eyes to prove the existence. His concept of reality also relates himself to Jesus, so much so as to believe he is a realistic representation of Him. He goes on to tell that the only difference is between the crimes committed and the proof held against him.

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(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.

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The misfit gains awareness of human morals when he kills the grandmother and he says, "She would have been a good woman...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life" (O 'Connor 1020), he then realized that she wasn 't all that good. O 'Connor did a good job of interpreting the grandmother as a way to put away the values of the old Southern America; she also interprets the Misfit as a type of common man who is defiantly not perfect which can a realistic version of the new Southern America. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find", the irritating grandmother cares more about matters such as her appearance and manners, she dressed her best for the car ride and the reason for her doing this is so that "In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would at once know that she was a lady." (O 'Connor 1010). The grandmother is a very selfish woman, the first thing she said to the Misfit is "You wouldn 't shoot a lady, would you?"

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