A Good Man is Hard to find
... traits of being compassionate and willingness to help others out of a good heart. In contrast, the grandmother is selfish and watches out for herself. The first line of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida”, suggests that she is selfish. This shows how the grandmother wants things her way. From the beginning, the grandmother tries to change Bailey’s mind so that she could “visit some of her connections in east Tennessee”. Another example of her selfishness occurs when the family encounters the Misfit for the first time. The Grandmother shouts out “You’re the Misfit! Without regard for her family, the grandmother thinks only of herself first by crying out loud, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” O’Connor is showing here that at time of family crisis, where all her loved ones are in harm, she only thinks of herself. This shows that the grandmother lacks the compassion and good heart of a good Christian. Another way that shows the grandmother is not a good Christian is by her deceitful actions. She manipulates people by flattering them to get what she wants. For instance, she tells the children of a mansion that she once visited hoping that the children would convince their father to go the direction the grandmother wants to go, despite what the family wants to do. O’Connor shows how the grandmother is self-absorbed by wanting things her way, even if it annoys members of the family. Ultimately, this self-absorbed act of the grandmother leads the whole family to their death. The deceit and manipulation of the grandmother reveals furthermore that she is not the good Christian whom she believes herself to be. The grandmother has her first moment of grace after she hears the Misfit’s voice crack showing emotion, she reaches out to him and says “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my children!” It is not until this point, that everything the grandmother had said prior was for the Misfit not to kill her. This act of reaching out to the misfit marks a point in her life where she finally stops thinking of only herself and is willing to reach out to someone out of the goodness of her heart. For the first time the grandmother clearly sees the truth which is also the first time she doubted the faith and opened her mind. The character of the grandmother started to change from good to bad when she meets the Misfit. It is this life and death climax where she realizes that she is going to be killed and tries to seek redemption in the little time she has left. The grandmother never truly understood God’s teaching until confronted with death. Throughout the story, the grandmother thought she knew so much about God and Jesus Christ and about being a good Christian. Grandmother’s idea of being a good Catholic is wrong. She claims herself as one however she shows no actions to match up with her words. Not until the end, does she realize for the first time that she does not act like a good Christian. She reaches out her hand in tenderness to someone who just killed her whole family. For that moment she wasn’t thinking of herself and was actually reaching out to the Misfit out of a good caring heart which in turn got her s...