I’ll start out with the grandmothers somewhat fascination with the misfit and how the power of horror lead to her demise. In Kristeva’s Powers of Horror, it states, “Imaginary uncanniness and real threat, it beckons us and ends up engulfing us”(Halberstam, pg. 18). At the beginning of the story, the grandmother brings to everyone’s attention how the Misfit had escaped and that she “wouldn’t take her children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it” (O’ Connor, pg. 644). She expressed how she couldn’t answer to her conscience if she did which is ironic because they ended up right in the Misfits path. The fear had engulfed the grandmother from the moment she heard of the misfit and it caused her to become fearful but yet interested in the Misfit.
As you can see, the grandmother was very quick to judge everyone and was never critical on herself inspecting her own hypocrisy, dishonesty and selfishness. Only when she is in her final moments of life, before the misfit kills her, does she then realize where she has gone wrong in her life and she is just like everyone else nothing more and nothing less. Planning a crime requires a lot of time, along with patience. To have good morals once must learn from mistakes and accept the punishment that comes along with it no matter
grandmother’s suspended thought prior to the wreck is a true cliff hanger. The overall sense emanated about The Misfit is a mystery in itself. The story first mentions him in the first paragraph with the grandmother rumoring, “ ‘Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is alone from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people.’ ” This statement, along with many other references throughout the story, foreshadows the appearance of the Misfit at the end of the story.
Ultimately, she is the last family member alive toward the end in which she regressed back to innocence considering the fact she has never experienced death. When she began to continuously saying Jesus name her reaction to the new experience began to affect her thought process. This led her into more babbling than anything. However When the Misfit Gave his input about Jesus it allowed her mind to think deeper into his situation as well as her own.” “It ain’t right I wasn’t there because if I had of been there I would of known. Listen lady,” he said in a high voice, “if I had been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now.” His voice seemed to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant”” (720). Death is probably as complex as life can get, yet despite the fact that death awaits her, her last few words are as straightforward as they come. “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my
The grandmother continues to convince the Misfit that he is not a bit common and could see good in his eyes. His parents were both good people, but told him he was a different kind of person. Misfit had Bobby Lee take Bailey and John Wesley in the woods, June was screaming for her daddy. Later after grandmother continued to talk to Misfit about Jesus, they heard a gunshot then another; grandmother screamed for Bailey. The mother was breathing heavy; Misfit asked them to take the mother and June to the woods with her husband. Later they hear a gunshot then
She also implies that she is in church when she asked him multiple times if he prays. The last part of her character that is revealed all throughout the story, from the beginning to the end, is that she's very talkative. Toward the end of the story she is trying to appeal to him and she continues to talk to him even after her son rudely hushes her. This is ironic because after she is shot the misfits states, "she would've been a good woman if it had been someone there to shoot her every minute of her life" (page 12). This shows the Misfits misogynistic character trait because he does not value the opinion or voice of women. His statement clearly shows how he would prefer a woman that is seen and not
And the child took that to mean eat but it was actually the man's name which was Edgar Atkins Teagarden. The Misfit talks about how he didn't know what he went to jail for and how same thing happened to Jesus but they did not have papers on Jesus. The Misfit is a sociopath cold blood or killer with no motion at the very and he suggests that someone should shut the Grandmother every day of her life this says a lot about his character and what he thought of the
This selfish act jeopardizes the family when the cat causes Bailey to wreck the car. The grandmother’s egotism places them directly in the path of The Misfit. However, the most disturbing act of selfishness displayed by the grandmother is her lack of concern for any of her family’s life when faced with death. She only acknowledges Bailey’s life when she hears the gunshots and is never concerned for the other members of the family. As the grandmother realizes that her life is coming to an end, she finally displays compassion instead of selfishness. She truly feels for The Misfit and his dreadful past. The grandmother’s unspeakable acts of selfishness are transfigured into blessings when she offers grace to The Misfit (Bandy, 2003). Unfortunately, this epiphany is realized too late. If she had not manipulated every aspect of the trip for her own selfish reasons, her family might still be alive.
...javuu. After a conversation with the driver and the children about why they guns, the driver tells the mother to tell the mother, “Lady, would you mind telling calling them children to sit down by you? Children make me nervous.” At this point Bailey is on the verge of throwing a fit about that BUT the grandmother shrieks, “You’re The Misfit! I recognized you at once!” This was her final mistake and even The Misfit thinks the same when he remarks back, “Yes’m, the man said, smiling slightly as if he were pleased in sptie of himself to be known, but if would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn’t of reckernized me.” This is the final straw that the grandma has picked. At this point, God himself has had enough of her screwing up so many times and now her family being involved that he punishes her by sending The Misfit to look like a blessing in disguise.
In the beginning, the grandmother attempts to persuade her son to abandon his idea of traveling to Florida, as she disagrees in his plan to take his family to Florida because there is a criminal simply called The Misfit on the loose and has reportedly been seen around those parts. However, even when considering this, Bailey, the son, persists