The Advantage of Ignorance
I read this story and actually got angry. The grandma was such an idiot! The line that particularly stuck out to me was, "'You're The Misfit!" she said. "I recognized you at once'" (A Good Man Is Hard To Find O'Connor pg 14). Oh my gosh! If she would have just pretended like she didn't know what was going on, they may have escaped unharmed. The worst part is she costs all of her family, even the baby, their lives. Even if he would have killed them anyways, it was grandma that made Bailey wreck the car! They should have just put grandma in assisted living and none of this would have ever happened!
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Lauren Miller on The Advantage of Ignorance: Hahaha. Your last line was pa
Dennis G. Jerz on The Advantage of Ignorance: So... is an appropriate respon
Chelsea Oliver on The Advantage of Ignorance: I loved the Grandma! haha Sure
Angelica Guzzo on The Advantage of Ignorance: Yeah I agree with you in tha t
Dennis G. Jerz on The Advantage of Ignorance: So... is an appropriate respon
Chelsea Oliver on The Advantage of Ignorance: I loved the Grandma! haha Sure
Angelica Guzzo on The Advantage of Ignorance: Yeah I agree with you in tha t
Yeah I agree with you in tha tI was angry at the Grandma. I like your ideas on wha tto do with Grandma!
I loved the Grandma! haha Sure she might have costed them their lives but really - no matter where they went, they were headed the way The Misfit was anyway. The whole story built us up to see The Misfit, I mean regaurdless of what Granny did, the story led to him anyway, thats why he was brought up in the first place.
So... is an appropriate response to this story for all of us to lock our grandparents away in homes?
I think Chelsea's point is good -- it was the story that led this family to this end, and the grandmother really didn't have any more choice in the matter than the other victims.
Every time I read this story, I look closely at the network of choices and actions that lead the family here. As a father who hates (HATES!) it when my kids kick the back of the seat, I could identify with Bailey's frustration, and I get furious at him for giving into his kids when they start throwing a tantrum. Of course, when you see the way his mother goads him (and, when he won't budge, pressures her daughter-in-law) it's easy to see why the kids are the little brats they are. But of course the story is shocking and horrible, because nobody in the story deserved their fate.
Hahaha. Your last line was particularly funny. I find the quote you chose especially interesting because it coincides with the one I chose for my entry: "'I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did'" (O'Connor 1). This claim that the grandmother made was on the first page of the story. Flannery O'Connor cleverly stuck it in there, where we wouldn't notice. At the end, when she says, "You're The Misfit! I recognized you at once!" she is finally coming to the horrible realization that she did what she swore never to do: lead her family into harm's way.