When reading “A good Man Is Hard to Find” on a surface level it is a story about a family that faced a very unfortunate event. The exterior of this story is that the family is dysfunctional and they encounter an “unlucky” situation with a criminal, Misfit. At the root and internal point of this story is so much deeper and somewhat philosophical. The Grandmother has the upmost character and moral compass flaw that leads her character to be hypocritical, manipulative and egocentric. One could say she is stuck in her own arrogance, she believes she is a Christian like woman while her actions prove otherwise. With her character flaws contradicting with how she sees herself, I don’t know if she truly believed that she was a perfect person.
The Grandmothers’ encounter with Red Sam made her feel understood and heard, that is something she did not feel very often. She disregarded how Red Sam acted toward his wife, but awarded him with such respect and gratitude that he were polite to two strangers that needed gas. I think that was something she needed to feel good about herself.
When the Grandmother and The Misfit meet, The misfit explains how he views no one is truly good or that it is extremely rare to come across genuine people. The Grandmother pleads for her life, possibly not truly understanding what he is saying, she tried to lead him to god and even tried to console him. Even though he felt some emotion towards her words to him, he knew this was a manipulative tactic to get him to have mercy on her life and not out of genuine concern or sympathy for The Misfit.
