The Importance Of The Misfit's Life

The grandmother believes The Misfit is “good” because he will not shoot a lady, which is a denial in her faith to keep her moral principles. Her theory proves to be false. The only thing “good” about the Misfit is his uniformity in living out his moral cipher of there is no pleasure but meanness in life.

The Misfit stated that he didn’t have a rough childhood, growing up with the “finest people in the world… God never made a finer woman than my mother and my daddy’s heart was pure gold” (O’Connor 413). It’s commonly thought that serial killers are motivated by their troublesome pasts, yet the Misfit didn’t seem to experience that. This creates ambiguity because O’Connor does not disclose what caused the Misfit to turn into a vicious killer. However, a possible explanation is that he has always suffered from psychological issues and the turbulent events he experienced contributed to his mental instability such as his time “in the arm services” and seeing “a man burnt alive” (O’Connor 415). Another example is when the grandmother touched the Misfit’s shoulder and said, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” causing him to shoot her three times in the chest (O’Connor 417). The grandmother’s motivation for saying that the Misfit is her child and the Misfit’s motivation for shooting her after that statement are ambiguous. A possible explanation may be that the grandmother was in shock due to her situation and wasn’t in a clear state of mind when she said that. The statement and physical gestures presented by the grandmother must have agitated the Misfit in some way that resulted in her instant death. However, the true

In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, what Cherry Valance meant by saying, “Things are rough all over.” Is that even though they were a socs, and they had lot’s of money, dream clothes, toys and cars, they still didn’t have a very easy life because sometimes their parents didn’t really care about them and they had nothing to do with them, or they were always bored because they never appreciated the things they had. The first reason why socs still have things hard in life is because their parents never really payed attention to them and got them anything they wanted. In the book after Bob died, Randy went to Ponyboy and talked to him about how Bob was a good guy, but sometimes he didn’t know how to stop. He had no limits. When Randy was

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (Bible). Jesus was publicly crucified because of his unwillingness to conform with the world’s beliefs. While The Misfit is not killed for his abnormal way of life, he is sent to prison. Although the world has an opposing opinion of what is right neither Jesus Christ or The Misfit back away from their own morals. Jesus Christ was a “misfit” in his own society.

I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” (O’Connor 355). She is pleading the Misfit for her life only by saying the word lady repeatedly and offering him the money. She is also praising the Misfit by calling him a good man and trying to save her life. She was also careless about her family. When her family is taken down into the woods, she continues to talk to Misfit. She ignores the sound of when her son and rest of the family were being shot. She is apparently oblivious to many things. She was ignoring everything but the Misfit. “The shirt came flying at him and landed on his shoulders and he put it on. The grandmother couldn’t name what the shirt reminded her of” (O’Connor 354). The grandmother doesn’t even realize that shirt was her son Baileys. She had no interest in knowing where that shirt came from and what happened to my family. For the concern of her life only, she tries to persuade the Misfit the same way she tried with her family. “I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people!” (O’Connor 352). She is trying to manipulate the Misfit and hopes that he will bear her. She is thinking about no one else but the sake for herself. However she fails once again to influence the Misfit.

     Moments later The Misfit releases some of his stress when he tells two of his companions to bring two of the children back into the woods. The grandmother hears gunfire and shivers in pain, not knowing the two children were just killed. She then begins to ask The Misfit about his life, “I just know you’re a good man,” the woman said (O’Connor 688). The Misfit slowly began to tell the woman about his parents and his childhood. He explained how his father looked down upon him; “you’re a different breed of dog,” he once said (O’Connor 688). The grandmother waits with anticipation as The Misfit tells her about his life. After hearing about his hardships and misfortunes, tells The Misfit to pray for help. He listens to her and shows no response. The Misfit did not know what he was punished for: “somewheres along the line I done something wrong and I got sent to the penitentiary…I forget what I done lady. I set there… trying to remember what it was I done and I ain’t recalled it to this day!” (O’Connor 689). This statement by The Misfit supports the case that he is a very confused man. Could a mental defect be the cause behind his actions and not remembering his past? The Misfit then explained that a psychiatrist at the penitentiary said that he killed his father, “but I known that for a lie” he states (O’Connor

him crazy. The consequence of the guilt that he was experiencing can be seen in two

On page three, Mrs. Jones said “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son-neither tell God, if he didn’t already know.” When Mrs. Jones was saying this, one was probably thinking that she has done something like this before, and that is probably why took Roger in instead of taking him to jail. On page three, Mrs. Jones said “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching on to my pocketbook nor nobody else’s-because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet.” One may think that Mrs. Jones was saying that if you do bad stuff but have nice shoes it will “burn your feet”. It is very important to think about the decisions you make in life. Making a bad decision comes with consequences, which can be compounded with further

When the Misfit is asked what event started his homicidal rage, the Misfit states “I forgot what I done. I set there and set there, trying to remember what it was that I done and I ain’t recalled it to this day… but it wasn’t no mistake. They had papers on me” (O’Connor 1314). The Misfit says later on that he never saw the papers either, so if he can’t remember, and has seen no proof who is the justice system to say that he was the one to commit the crime. The Misfit found that to the justice system “the crime

The Misfit on the other hand is a borderline psychopath, who is extremely violent; he commits these violent crimes on people and sees nothing wrong with it. The Misfit does not see the things he does as wrong because he had to serve time in prison for a crime he claims he did not do, so all of his actions have been paid for by his time in prison. He told the Grandmother “Jesus thrown everything off balance. It was the same case with Him as with me except he hadn’t committed any crime and they could prove I had committed one because they had the papers on me (461).” He compares himself to Jesus because of his thoughts of his innocence. He believes since neither of them committed a crime and both got charged for something they did not do that they are the same. He believes everything wrong he does has been paid for by his unnecessary jail time.

Crimes and Misdemeanors reveals a struggle between a man of little faith and the immoral path he has chosen. Judah a prominent figure in his community whom is highly regarded for his standing as a philanthropist and physician, reaches out for moral guidance from a respected pillar of the religious field and family friend. As his life begins to crumble as he tries to weigh the consequences of his infidelities to that of murder and the subsequent guilt in hopes of absolution. Eventually discovering that God’s eyes aren’t focused on the evils of the world ready to serve justice.

The Misfit uses Christ’s actions to justify his crimes in an interesting way. He believes that Jesus shouldn’t have wasted time raising the dead. Instead, he wishes that everyone could live their lives in as much sin and revenge as they wanted to. If Jesus had not saved the sinners, than everyone would inevitably be damned; The Misfit would rather live according to this principle anyway.“ … and if He didn’t, then it’s nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness.” He isn’t looking for forgiveness or to be saved since he was the one who saved himself by escaping from prison. Rather, he is looking for

Per Christianity, anyone is granted salvation by the hand if he bestows upon them grace. However, the grandmother fits the role of evil more than her own perceived view of good. She constantly lied to her grandchildren, manipulated them and her son bailey believes that she is the most righteous person presented in the story. This arrogance is what leads her to believe that she could impose her religious views on the misfit. She tried to instruct him on prayer which he refuses and she denies the actions of Jesus only in fear of what the misfit would do to her. The misfit is similar as he doesn’t feel as though there is real pleasure and life only meanness. The two however had a moment that suggest that they could be saved. When she told him that “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (O’Connor pg. 493) she realized that he could not impose he will upon him and must see him as equal human being while the misfit was shocked by her words and stating that there is no pleasure in at all instead of his previous

1. In O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” the Christ-haunted south is a predominant theme. The meaning of Christ-haunted is that many folks are intrigued by Jesus but don’t want to be integrated by him, they are fascinated by spiritual things and people but don’t want to be one of those people. To many people Jesus is just an object of fascination.

With his violent killing, the Misfit seems an unlikely source to look to for guidance, but he demonstrates a deep conviction that the other characters lack. Unlike the grandmother, who simply assumes that she is morally superior to everyone else, the Misfit seriously questions the meaning of life and his role in it. He has carefully considered his actions in life and examined his experiences to find lessons within them. He has even renamed himself because of one of these lessons, believing that his punishment didn’t fit the crime. He reveals a self-awareness that the grandmother lacked and questions it. He knows he is not a great man, but he also knows that there are others worse than him. He forms rudimentary philosophies, such as “no pleasure but meanness” and “the crime don’t matter.” The Misfit’s philosophies may be morally corrupt, but they are consistent. Unlike the grandmother, whose moral code falls apart the moment it’s challenged, the Misfit has a steady view of life and acts according to what he believes is right. His beliefs and actions