False Identity In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Three shots, that's all it took to correct a lifetime worth of character flaws and false identity. One ponders the irony, clarity evolving from the most unlikely source only to have no opportunity to right all the wrongs. In the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the grandmother’s epiphany, or moment of revelation, is no other than the moment when she reaches out and touches the Misfit. Even though the Misfit and his fellow convicts have murdered all the other members of her family, the grandmother is now able to see a connection between herself and The Misfit. At that moment, nothing else matters, not her status, race, or gender. She was seeking understanding while saying,“Why, you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!”(152) …show more content…
As the story progressed the reader could almost feel the detachment the family showed towards her, especially the children through perfectly timed insults “She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day.”(137). Throughout the story, the reader is shown the true nature of the grandmother as a manipulative, self-centered, racist. Furthermore, the only unselfish act she performed throughout the entire story was the offer to hold her granddaughter on her lap. Even in the face of death, she was not concerned that her innocent grandchildren and son were being hauled off into the woods to an uncertain …show more content…
There were many racist undertones as the story progressed, at one point she even tried to manipulate The Misfit by pleading "I know you're a good man. You don't look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people!" (147) This statement itself substantiates her impression of the quality of an individual based on the type of blood they are derived of. In any regard, delusion of perfectionism is shattered, her impurities exposed with the extension of a hand that was never