The Misfit In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

In the short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the grandmother's superficial goodness towards other individuals is significant to contrast with the evil "The Misfit" obtains. For the duration of the story, the grandmother fears "The Misfit" and strives to avoid the evil he possesses; however, we learn it is inevitable that his existence will eventually encompass her when they make acquaintance. The Misfit seamlessly endangers others with the careless actions he perpetrates, and in return, displays minimal remorse. Readers of the story may easily be perplexed by the motives the Misfit obtains to commit heinous acts onto innocent victims; however, lack of religious conscience, moral blindness and intermittent conversation with the grandmother

The Misfit is portrayed to the grandmother as an erratic criminal a loose and seeking new victims. The grandmother‘s initial instinct is to fear this individual and she even claims, “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal a loose in it” (1285). She assumes his morals are corrupt and presumably labels him as a predator. Later in the story, we quickly see an allusive shift in the grandmother’s beliefs at the arrival of The Misfit. The importance of their conversation is centralized around the religious factor that allows readers to confer The Misfit is not as we expect. He states, “I was a gospel singer for a while” and also mentions his father was a member of the Baptist Church which proves to the audience that he was raised in a background of good morals and religion. He continues to describe other belongings he has been involved in, and allows us to infer he is searching to be encompassed in something with meaning; however, he struggles to gain a sense of worth in any of the involvements he obtains. Similarly, Mr. Fowler was a moral man and loved his son dearly, after the life-changing incident Mr. Fowler lost his son, and twisted into something he’s never been before. Some may even say he became blinded by his morals, and committed

She tells The Misfit, “If you would pray, Jesus would help you” and as The Misfit responds with “That’s right;” however, this prompts the audience to question why he doesn’t pray then (O’Connor 1294). Moreover, when The Misfit reply’s with “I don’t need no help, I’m doing all right by myself” we can confer he is content in life; nevertheless, he contrast himself by later stating “If I had been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now” proposing that he is upset with the way he is, and wants an opportunity to change but does not believe he will get one (O’Connor 1295). In comparison, we see the guilt Mr. Fowler possesses after he murders Richard Strout through revenge of his son, and as he lays in bed he is engrossed with his actions and “shudders with a sob that he kept silent in his heart (Dubus 1227). Mr. Fowler and The Misfit seek an opportunity to be changed; however, they’re blinded by their moral judgments and initiate themselves to commit actions they will later