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March 13, 2006

No good men in this story.

O'Connor, ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)

"'Jesus!' the old lady cried. 'You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray!Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give ou all the money I've got!'"

I chose this quote from the grandmother because right after she hears three more shots assuming to be at her daughter in law and two other grandchildren she begins to beg for her life. It was surprising to me that she is still begging for her life to be pardonned when she has lost everyone else that was in it. I would think that her being the oldest of them all and only having the five of them in her life who are now dead and no longer in her life, that she would really have no reason to beg for her own life. I believe if I were in her situation, I would fell as if I had nothing else to live for.
Although, Maybe in her dillusion, she thought that her family was not killed and the gun shots did not actually harm them and thats why she was begging for her life.
I also found this quote sort of funny because obviously the old lady is not thinking while she is begging. She pleads for her life and in return she will give him all of her money. Whether she lived or died, I am pretty sure that the Misfit was taking her money anyways!
She had to have been in complete denial of what was going on and of what was going to happen to herself. I can not imagine being in that situation, and I bet the family in the story thought it was a fat chance that they would end up in that situation. Goes to show, you never know.

Posted by TerraStumpf at March 13, 2006 01:31 PM

Comments

The grandmother is a bit over-the-top, you're right. I wasn't sorry at all to see her go. You pointed out a number of interesting ways in which she's totally illgical. She was crazy right from the beginning, remember? She dresses up for the car trip so that anyone who saw her lying dead by the side of the road would know that she was a lazy. Just like in all the instances you've pointed out, she wasn't thinking rationally at all. You mentioned how in the grandmother's position, with all her family dead, you can't understand how she'd still have the will to live. However, in light of all these examples of the grandmother's craziness, she's sort of wandering through the world with only one-half of a spark of intelligent life in her.

Posted by: Megan Ritter at May 2, 2006 08:31 PM

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