What the Misfit fears is the mystery of love, the demands of love which the grandmother mysteriously responded to when faced with the criminal's suffering, and her own impending death.
The author made a claim that the Misfit resented Jesus' resurrection "because it upsets the human code of justice he wishes to base his life upon." I think that this quote about love is yet another reason why he may resent the resurrection. If he truly does fear the mystery of love, then the resurrection is something he would naturally fear or despise--or both. Jesus would not have risen from the dead if he hadn't died on the cross. He died on the cross to save us...the ultimate sacrifice...giving up one's own life to save another. This takes a lot of love.
Comments (2)
I love how O'Connor presents love as some sort of evil temptation for the Misfit. It makes me think of the Munsters or something, where everything you would normally think would be pleasant is exactly the opposite for them. "Sunshine?! No, anything but that! It's so dreary!" I think it's a really cool way to represent the struggle to define one's own individual morality to turn conventional morality on its head like that. This article has really helped me appreciate O'Connor a whole lot more.
Posted by Matt Henderson | March 26, 2007 9:42 PM
Posted on March 26, 2007 21:42
I agree 100% that the quote about love is another reason why the Misfit resents the resurrection because there really was no greater love than that of God sacrificing his son to save us from our sins.
Posted by Margaret Jones | March 26, 2007 11:32 PM
Posted on March 26, 2007 23:32