Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?
"The Grandmother considers herself a good Christian woman, i.e. a lady of fine manners and disposition, and a believer in Jesus to boot. But the Misfit rejects her attempts to flatter him on the basis of class and manners. This so-called gentleman will not allow such trivializing of the good; in answer to it he murders women and children in cold blood."
On the outside, the Grandmother is the definition of good. She is well-mannered, polite, and a flat out upright citizen. She is everything that everyone strives to be. At least on the outside. O'Connor has made her a deceiving character in "A Good Man Is Hard To Find". The Misfit is actually the good guy in the story, and not the Grandmother. After reading this essay, I feel that the Misfit acted rationally when he decided to kill the whole family. Goodness should not be trivialized in our society. It should not be taken for granted. He realized that these people were good in society's eyes, but not to the people that really counted (Jesus). He killed them so that they could no longer smudge the name of good.
Comments
I completely disagree. I understand the rational behind the argumentation, but I disagree with the logic. The Misfit wasn't a good character, but the family wasn't made of diamonds either. Desmond quotes Weil's theory of multiplication and I think it works. Evil mixed with evil only creates more evil. The Misfit's actions may have been justified, but that doesn't make him into a good character.
Posted by: Diana Geleskie | March 28, 2007 6:27 AM
Note that Desmond explains the Thomistic observation that evil actions generally appear good to those who commit them. They can rationalize or make good excuses, but that doesn't change the nature of the action.
Corey, you have staked out a striking claim, but I'm not sure that you will find any evidence within O'Connor's work to support your implicit claim that clear rational thinking justifies the Misfit's actions. He rejects the title "good," so it's unlikely that he is killing in the name of good.
I'd be interested in hearing more on this claim.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz | March 28, 2007 10:56 AM
This is kind of like the approach that I took in my blog. I saw the Misfit as the protagonist of the story and the Grandmother as the antagonist.
Posted by: Bethany Bouchard | April 1, 2007 2:16 PM