(“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is also in my used textbook — now I can say that the title is “The Literary Experience” by Beiderwell/Wheeler. I recommend it even for those works within it that aren’t part of this course, they’re great! But this isn’t part of my word count, heh)
When I read this short story on my own, it never so much as crossed my mind that there might be a False Prophet reflected in The Misfit; it’s especially baffling considering that my source has both a biographical paragraph stating that “[Flannery O’Connor’s] works are essentially religious, in that they express her Catholic vision of the world as a fallen place in need of redemption”, and this quote by St. Cyril of Jerusalem: “The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” Honestly, the religious overtones to characters and not just dialogue could’ve decked me in the face, and I still would have just shaken my head at some *nebulous evil that inspires senseless violence* and gone about my day, so Baudelaire was right.
Something else I only noticed after reading the preceding article was the structure of the confrontation that demonstrates some of O’Connor’s vision: the many attempts and failures of the grandmother to get The Misfit to see the light of Christ. All of her platitudes glance past him because she doesn’t know him at all — and even when he dumps his tragic history she still can’t synthesize any of it effectively until everyone else she traveled with (except Pitty Sing, a cute immortalization of her now that I think of it) has been murdered. “You’re one of my own children!” ..and a child of God, which is the unconditional support from authority that could’ve saved The Misfit when he was younger, even when “justice” betrayed him and framed him(?) for the death of his father whom he still seems to hold some warmth for. Alas, in Satan’s Prison that is Earth, no one can attain the sort of clarity that can cheat death; that’s why Jesus Christ had to ascend, I suppose!
2 thoughts on “Madelyn Diaz Discussion 9”
Hi Madelyn I agree with you with “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” It’s remarkable how the religious themes went right over your head at first as a reader, especially with all the religion vibes in Connor’s work, I never thought about the structure of the confrontation like that before through the story. It’s like the grandmother is trying so hard to bring the Misfit to religion, but she’s just not getting through until it’s too late.
Madelyn, some of these quotes here gave me the chills, especially the one from St. Cyril about the dragon on the side of the road. And I agree that Baudelaire is correct in saying that the devil’s greatest wile is to convince people that he doesn’t exist. And yes, again, the Grandmother has no idea who the Misfit is. She is one who would definitely not see him watching from the side of the road. He is so far beyond her in terms of intellect and comprehension. Her manipulations are never going to work on him. I’m a reader, as I just commented to John, who believes the Misfit did, in fact, kill his father. He is such a tortured and disturbed person. The author likes to think that he will also be redeemed by the loving touch of the Grandmother. I smiled at your comment about Pitty Sing. I picture her traveling around the country with those three murderers—unless the Misfit truly does leave his life of crime and become the prophet “he was always meant to be.”