The Grandmother Character Analysis

In this passage, the grandmother realizes her past ways of mistreating others and living a life of racism and judgement is not how a life should be lived. This epiphany is ironic because although the grandmother may truly be coming to a new realization, the moment she realizes this, she has already lead herself into death. Initially, the grandmother is a character of racism, rudeness, and has a sense of superiority. She begins the story with her “leathery thin face” (O’Connor 92) and constant degrading of others. Her morals stem from her religious upbringing and use them to justify her beliefs and treatment of others. Next, the grandmother faces the Misfit after a long car ride with her family that ends in a rollover. As she witnesses the dangerous men kill off her family members one by one she realizes she must do something to save her life. Finally, she decides to show the Misfit that she has had a moral epiphany and sees the wrong in her ways. The Misfit sees through this and understand that the grandmother is just “a talker” (103) and holds no truth to her word. Ironically, the grandmother claims to realize the error of her ways when it is too late. The grandmother would have treated others better “had there been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life” (103). Although the grandmother most likely does truly understand how her actions affected others, the epiphany was a survival plea and held little truth.

This Misfit’s choice to kill the grandmother is a result of understanding that unless placed in a similar situation, the grandmother would return to her old ways and continue in a life of mistreating