“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” tells of a family driving from Georgia to Florida. They get into an accident while driving and are found by a trio of men led by the Misfit, an escaped convict mentioned by the grandmother in the beginning of the story. This interaction between the family and the Misfit is not just a murderous event. The Misfit and the grandmother discuss morality, religion and the penal system. This conversation evokes the nature vs. nurture debate- what determines the Misfit’s evilness, genetics or the environment. The Misfit states that a psychiatric doctor at a penitentiary told him he killed his father, despite him remembering his father dying from the flu earlier in time. With this information and the descriptions of the cruel treatment he has endured, the reader cannot help but put blame on the penal system for the Misfit’s violent disposition. This also made me think of how the harshness of an older generation, shown by the grandmother’s selfish stubbornness, can negatively affect the younger generation. It is not just the penal system, but the standards of society set by closed-minded people that are also to blame. Realistically, Jesus is not going to save the Misfit, like the grandmother keeps proclaiming. What would have saved him from this fate is a righteous judicial system and loving support from a caretaker growing up.
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One thought on “Victoria Santagato Discussion 8”
Hi Victoria, I agree with you. The grandmother seems cursed from hell after putting her family in harm’s way. After seeing the family, the misfit knew precisely what their plan was, and lying that they got their clothes from someone made me think that this family wasn’t the only people they killed since their escape. As stubborn as that grandmother was, it reflected the same issue we currently have in our society. They always know it all, never want to be corrected, and always put themselves first. And, because of her selfless and stubborn way, the family died.