The Misfit's Reflections
Uploaded by yrbkgal on Jun 03, 2001
Flannery O’Connor’s personal views on the justification of religion and the resulting world or corruption and depravity are apparent in her short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. She analyzes the basic plight of human existence and its conflict with religious conviction. The first two-thirds of the narrative set the stage for the grandmother, representing traditional Christian beliefs, to collide with The Misfit, representing modern scientific beliefs. The core of symbolism and the magnet for interpretation is at the end, the conversation between the grandmother and The Misfit. The conversation represents the examination of the clash between animal and metaphysical human nature and the Misfit is the literary depiction of the outcome of that clash.
The grandmother is based on conventional Southern women. She dresses in her Sunday best so that noone would be mistaken as to her status as a lady, an issue at the heart of every true Southern woman. She related stories of old mansions and of the little ‘pickaninny’ by a door. This was not a racial comment because for it to be there would have to be an intent to insult an African American and there was not. This was written to further convey the notion of her embodying all the true characteristics of Southern women, including their adherence to devout Christianity.
The Misfit exemplifies the cold, contemporary world. In the conversation The Misfit’s declares about Jesus, "I wasn't there so I can't say He didn't..." and "It ain't right I wasn't there because if I had of been there I would of known...if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn't be like I am now...”. This is the central dilemma of human consciousness. We are mindful of ourselves but we are also basically animals with violent tendencies and primitive drives. Everyday, these two selves collide. The understanding or awareness of each person demands that we rise above our primeval instincts, and with this demand comes a need for meaning, a purpose beyond the material restrictions of our bodies and the world we see around us. Otherwise all that is left, as The Misfit comments, "'...it's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can--by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness,' he said and his voice had become...