The Misfit Short Story Analysis

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The biggest sense of wrong in this story between the family is their lack of listening to each other. O’Connor tells the story in the perspective of the Grandmother who describes her family with the sense of her having superiority over who they are as she is the older and wiser lady she believed herself to be, to also criticizing their actions. Her lack of empathy towards her family is what caused the root of the problem to leading them right to The Misfit where instead of pleading to save her family she opted to try to save herself instead, it was her selfishness in which led her to a wrong path. The Misfit unlike the grandma he had a sense for what life is about and stuck to his own moral code. The Misfit is described as somewhat a preacher who describes his life and how he lost faith in the humanity of mankind which gave him the endurance of the choice in killing lives. The son Bailey in the story though had a small role he also had a hand in the wheel which spiraled them into this tragedy. His lack of taking control of the fate for his family is turned him down the wrong path. He allowed the misfit to take over the situation easily with an easy tone of a serial killer without the attempt of finding a way to help his wife and children survive. As a family man he should’ve been more defiant in the attempts to get the misfit to spare their lives. Letting the grandmother speak for him knowing her ways brought down the family. In the end she also realized her mistake too late, this story’s message intended as a tragic family trip that could’ve been evaded had they not been more communicative towards one another.

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