Transitions of Good and Evil: Religious to Secular

Good Vs. Evil The concept of good and evil always springs up in the context of either religion or a society with the goals or creating a more unified union. Religion, especially Christianity was at its climax during the middle ages and almost every aspect of a European's life was controlled by the interpretation of the bible. As a result, any one that had even the slightest ideas that went against the bible was considered "bad" and often punished severely. As society moved towards a secular type of governing, the concept of good and bad changed as well. Today a person is considered, "bad" only if they don't meet society's laws set forth by a country's lawmakers. However, on an individual basis most people today use a combined

In Flannery O'Connor's, " A Good Man is Hard to Find" two characters that are either displayed as good or bad, are the Grandmother and the Misfit. To truly judge if these characters are good or bad, we must analyze the motives and past experiences of both the Grandmother and the Misfit. In doing so we realize that the whole concept of good and bad is flawed and an individual does certain actions based on their past experiences. The Grandmother is portrayed as a person from a good and pious family, so many people would call her "good", however when analyzing her actions such as her treatment of the Misfit, one can argue that she is not good and even bad. On the other hand, the Misfit is considered bad, because he has killed people and has very outrageous religious values, however if you consider his life experiences and his intentions, the Misfit can be

After a few words, the Grandmother recognizes the Misfit and announces it to him. As soon as he is recognized, he turns into the person that the Grandmother pre-labeled him as being. During the conversation, the read can see all of the Grandmother’s flaws. For example, we see her selfishness when she seems to care more about her own life than the life of her family because she constantly pleads for the Misfit to let her go. The interaction between the two reaches a climax when the topic about Jesus is brought up. From the Grandmother’s view on Jesus we can see her one dimensional mind because her belief is the typical Christian doctrine. However, at this point is where a change in the Grandmother can be see, because she says “"Maybe He didn't raise the dead."(O’Connor 1184) For the first in the story and probably in the Grandmother’s life she has questioned something that has been to engrained in her. Finally, at the last seconds of her life the Grandmother realizes that the Misfit indeed is a good person and reaches out to him and says “You're one of my own children!” (O’Connor, 1185) Unfortunately, for the Grandmother the Misfit is not a dynamic character and he shoots the Grandmother multiple times to her