Misfit In Flannery O Connor's Analysis

The misfit goes back and forth with the grandmother debating if he is perfectly innocent or an absolute criminal. In the beginning of the conversation, the Misfit agrees that he is a good man; however, later, he retracts that statement. He carefully considers everything the grandmother says about him being a good man, and how he was not a bit common (O’Connor 11). However, the grandmother did not mean good as moral or kind. She meant good as gullibility, poor judgment, and blind faith, none of which are inherently good (The exclusive definition of a Good Man 1). ‘The grandmother desperately calls him a good man, as though appealing to some kind of underlying value that the Misfit wouldn’t want to deny. Her definition of “good,” however, is …show more content…
“Do you ever pray (O’Connor 12)?” “‘Pray, pray,” the Grandmother began, “pray, pray….”’The Grandmother feels as morally superior throughout the story, but her feelings change when she is near death; she begins to beg the Misfit to pray, but she does not want him to pray for himself. He wants the Misfit to pray for her. She is now questioning her life, and she wonders if God is going to give her grace for her actions (The Unlikely Recipients of Grace 1).She thought she was above the Misfit, but, now, she realizes they are equal through different actions. “If he did what He said, then it is nothing for you to do but now throw everything and follow Him, and if he did not, then it is nothing for you to enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can -- by killing somebody or burning his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness (O’Connor 14).” The misfit feels that if God did all that he said then it would be no problem to follow him, and the Misfit feels that he could be a better man in those circumstances. In the story, the Misfit says that Jesus throws everything off balance (O’Connor 14). He is blaming God for the falling of the world; even though God is control of everything, he allowed the world to become a place of fallenness. The statement, “... if he did not, then it is nothing for you to enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can -- by killing somebody or burning his house or doing some other meanness to him.” The reader can infer from this statement that without God then the Misfit would not feel bad for his actions. After committing a crime, the misfit would not have to worry about the judgement of The Lord. The misfit also says it would be out of meanness and not pleasure (O’Connor 14). This could lead the reader to believe that the Misfit had