The Lucifer Effect Analysis

Any man can withstand adversity; if you want to test his character, give him power.

The Misfit on the other hand, acknowledges that he is not a good man but he “ain’t the worst in the world neither (364).” He accepts his misdeeds but he does not believe that the punishment he receives fit with the wrong he has done. He goes by the name ‘The misfit,’ because of how he really feels like. It is apparent that he is from a good family background from the way he describes his parents. “God never made a finer woman than my mother and my daddy’s heart was pure gold (363).” He does not deny the existence of a supreme God, and he does

The Misfit states that “if I had been there [and seen Jesus raise from the dead] I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now” (O’Connor 1316). This means that if the Misfit knew the truth about Jesus Christ he would not be a killer and maybe he’d have some faith. This truth agrees with Martha Stephens’s when she says that “everything the Misfit has done, everything he so monstrously does here, proceeds from his inability to accept Christ, to truly believe” (Stephens 1320). This does not encompass the fact that although the Misfit just does not trust the work of Jesus Christ, the Misfit can never change because of lack of knowledge about what Jesus has done. In order for the Misfit to change he has to know that the works of Jesus Christ are true, the Misfit can never just “believe”. To the Misfit believing would mean knowing, and knowing would mean to witness all of what Jesus Christ has done.

In most of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories a number of characters have a hard time seeing an ultimate reality in their life. They tend to have a distorted grasp on reality but not all in the same way. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Misfit and the Grandmother are prime examples. The actions and the way of life of the Misfit and Grandmother are mostly due to the fact that they are living in an false reality where they are in their own little world, where in the Misfit’s world everything goes with no worry of repercussion in the Grandmother’s case she can do no wrong because she has a false perception of what is right.

In his earlier years, the Misfit lived a normal life. “”I was a gospel singer for for a while,” The Misfit said,” I been most everything. Been in the arm service, both land and sea, at home and abroad,been twict married, been an undertaker, been with the railroads, plowed Mother Earth, been in a tornado, seen a man burnt alive oncet.”” ( O’Connor 506). Once when the Misfit made a mistake, he

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

The Misfits reasons for killing are also referenced to Jesus of all people, taking on a false dichotomy leading to two antithetical options of living. Both of the Misfits propositions end in him justifying death (Evans

For instance, Browns entire reason for existence was taken away once exposed to evil. Browns faith, community, and beliefs vanished. Yes, in a way this relates to The Misfit. However, The Misfit always had a doubt about the existence of a higher power. He believed in it, but did not. Another difference was that Browns journey led to despair and The Misfits led to complete destruction around him. Brown isolated himself from people because he was basically terrified, but The Misfit reacted with deviance. In a way, Brown was more in denial about the consequences of evil, while The Misfit accepted it. Their religious beliefs and upbringing had much to do with this. Brown was a Puritan who believed in a life of purity, morality, and simplicity. The act of the devil and sin was known, but not acted upon by a Puritan. The Misfit was surrounded by neglect, reality, and ignorance that made him relate to evil. It was not as new to The Misfit as it was to

From these two statements it is easy for the reader to see the Misfit believes that the best pleasure in life comes from meanness. He also believes no matter what type of crime, sooner or later it will catch up to you, and you will

The most infamous of these is the affect playing roles has on us; this is called the Lucifer effect. This occurs when one is placed into a role such as Phillip Zimbardo’s famous prison guard experiment, and the role that is in authority over the other begins to abuse their power. (Myers 2014, p. 461) Another great example of this is in the movie Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick) Hartman is given a role over the cadets. His brutality perfectly demonstrates the Lucifer effect, as he verbally and physically abused the cadets. Hartman constantly called the cadets killers, and Private Pyle took heart to that. He showed information social influence; when a person accepts others’ reality as their own. (Myers 2014, p. 467) Private Pyle was conceived that he was to become a killer, and eventually he became just that. (Kubrick) The rest of the cadets were also affected by this.

The Misfit also believes that is he had actually seen Jesus he would have known for sure that Jesus is the son of God. He acts angry that he doesn’t know, he’s angry because he believes that if he had been there to witness Jesus firsthand. He thinks that if he were to believe, that he wouldn’t be the man that he is now. The Misfit does have a conscience and some sort of reasoning, however not the right reasoning for his actions.

The short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O 'Connor and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne both include characters who are greatly affected by the battle between good and evil. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” tells the story of a family 's seemingly normal car trip turning in a tragedy of blood shed after they come face to face with evil himself in the form of The Misfit, a violent killer who has escaped from prison. “Young Goodman Brown” tells us about a young man who has to face evil in himself and those close to him after he travels down an evil path while traveling through the forest. Both stories show how personal choices and chance encounters put people in the path of evil and can be life-changing and in some situations even life-ending.

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

Evil, as mentioned before, is commonly referred to the act or actions that go directly against what is to be considered good. Good, or a set or morals and believes, have differed between the many generation that have existed over time. One must properly understand that what they believe to be pure evil could be seen as doing the right thing in the eyes of others. Evil has a very bias perception to its definition, but is always measured by the same means no matter where what and when it is describes. Evil is the

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once said, “The line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Every indivdual has the decision between good and evil. Not every person will choose the right side of the line. When an indivdual crosses over the line to the evil side this is known as The Lucifer Effect. Philip Zimbardo, the individual that coined the idea, presented the ideas behind why people change and turn evil even if though their whole life they were not known as an evil person. According to Zimbardo, people turn evil for one of two reasons; The Lucifer Effect and the seven social processes that grease the slippery slope of evil (TED Talks).