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Analysis of the graduate movie
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Analysis of the graduate movie
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The Issues
The question is: What do you think the grandmother meant when she said to the Misfit, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” Why do you think the Misfit killed her when she said that? Since the question is two parts, I’ll answer it in two parts.
The grandmother said that the Misfit was one of her children in an attempt to console him into thinking that she was not someone that he wanted to kill. The reason that she says that has some symbolic underlying tones. She symbolizes Jesus, saving His flock from the perils of life, while the Misfit represents Lucifer, out to undermine the very fabric of our belief system.
The devil, in most cases, is purely an anecdotal figure; there simply for us to gauge the deeds of the good against. In this case, we see that the devil, easily represented by an escape convict, showing all that could go wrong with a person. The convict, however, goes through all theses motions showing almost no emotion; as if he has no humanly response to any stressful situation.
The Misfit killed the grandmother in a mute fit of rage. In his mind he was thinking, “How do she get tha gall ta say she’s my ma? She ain’t got no right ta do it.” He then promptly killed her for her indiscretions. This simple act is brought about by a complex set of circumstances. The need of the devil to immediately extinguish all resistance to his cause; control the little man and you shall control the masses.
The fact that the Misfit killed the grandmother in cold blood is not true. The Misfit was full of inner emotion when he consummated the act, seemingly showing no outward signs of fear or nervousness.
The Misfit is a complex character created by Flannery O’Connor. He is talked about first when the Grandmother reads his criminal background at the breakfast table. Right when the Misfit meets the family the Grandmother starts questioning his faith and past, and through the Grandmother’s persistent behavior that you find out the truth behind the Misfits hard exterior. The reader understands that the Misfit was brought up by parents who were the “finest people in the world” (O’Connor 1312). With this type of background, how can one expect the Misfit to be such a cold blooded killer? Because of his kind nature in the beginning of the story, it’s almost impossible to understand how he could just kill. Through deeper analysis one can characterize the Misfit with a heart of gold, but the mind of a villain. This characterization is true because somewhere along the line he was wrongly accused of murdering his father and was brutally punished and he was mistreated by the justice system. The Misfit knows he was innocent and neither Jesus nor the justice system could rid him of the punish he received. It’s not because he is an evil person, he says himself “I never was a bad boy that I remember of… but somewhere along the line I done something wrong and got sent to the penitentiary. I was buried alive” (1314). The Misfit states he was never the worst person, but he also says himself that he was never good either, so the reason behind the Misfit’s homicidal condition is not because he is an evil person but due to his distrust in Jesus Christ and the justice system.
To buttress this she pointed out that even at the grandmothers death misfit confirmed her to be a good woman in his statement “she would have been a good woman if she was to face death every minute of her life” (437). In contrast to her opinion Stephen Bandy a notable literally critics in one of his articles “One of my babies “: The Misfit and the Grandmother” he compared the characters of both and argued that despite the fact that O`Conner claimed the grandmother was merely filled with “prejudice” of her time, He described the grandmother as racist, busy body and utterly self-absorbed. When she saw that her child and grandchildren was been killed tried to manipulate Misfit to spare her own life whereas she was the one that lead them to their death.
There are three phases of thought for the Grandmother. During the first phase, which is in the beginning, she is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. The Second Phase occurs when she is speaking to The Misfit. In the story, The Misfit represents a quasi-final judgment. He does this by acting like a mirror. He lets whatever The Grandmother says bounce right off him. He never really agrees with her or disagrees, and in the end he is the one who kills her. His second to last line, "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life," (O'Conner 152). might be the way O'Conner felt about most of us alive, or how she felt that God must feel about us.
With these two divergent personas that define the grandmother, I believe the ultimate success of this story relies greatly upon specific devices that O’Connor incorporates throughout the story; both irony and foreshadowing ultimately lead to a tale that results in an ironic twist of fate and also play heavily on the character development of the grandmother. The first sense of foreshadowing occurs when the grandmother states “[y]es and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, Caught you” (1042). A sense of gloom and an unavoidable meeting with the miscreant The Misfit seem all but inevitable. I am certain that O’Connor had true intent behind th...
...javuu. After a conversation with the driver and the children about why they guns, the driver tells the mother to tell the mother, “Lady, would you mind telling calling them children to sit down by you? Children make me nervous.” At this point Bailey is on the verge of throwing a fit about that BUT the grandmother shrieks, “You’re The Misfit! I recognized you at once!” This was her final mistake and even The Misfit thinks the same when he remarks back, “Yes’m, the man said, smiling slightly as if he were pleased in sptie of himself to be known, but if would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn’t of reckernized me.” This is the final straw that the grandma has picked. At this point, God himself has had enough of her screwing up so many times and now her family being involved that he punishes her by sending The Misfit to look like a blessing in disguise.
The conversations between The Misfit and the Grandmother are quite interesting. When she is face-to-face with him and her death is imminent, she is the least willing of the family to accept it. Only the grandmother attempts to talk her way out of the situation even though the rest of her family lies assassinated in the woods behind her. In a last effort to escape with her life, she offers The Misfit all the money she has. He responds, “‘Lady,’ The Misfit said, looking beyond her far into the woods, ‘there never was a body that give the undertaker a tip'” (O’Connor 30).
The Grandmother often finds herself at odds with the rest of her family. Everyone feels her domineering attitude over her family, even the youngest child knows that she's "afraid she'd miss something she has to go everywhere we go"(Good Man 2). Yet this accusation doesn't seem to phase the grandmother, and when it is her fault alone that the family gets into the car accident and is found by the Misfit, she decides to try to talk her way out of this terrible predicament.
The Misfit; is the epitome of the Godless man in a Godless society. He is a killer who is also raised without spirituality as the old woman's children. He is the representative of evil.
In the story, the grandmother who does not have an actual name is one of the key characters in this plot. She has almost two different personalities to her character. She can be a good person and a bad person all at the same time. On the good side of the grandmother, she tries to help keep the family together throughout the trip to Florida, and she also seems to look out for the children even though it goes against what the parents like. She gives the children attention and discipline when the children’s parents ignore them. Even though the grandmother has a good side, she has a major evil side to her which is mostly shown in the story. With her evil side showing, the grandmother has a very racist side to her. She could also, in many cases be blamed for the reason why her family was killed. There are many reasons why the grandmother is the cause of the family’s death in the store, for example, the grandmother brought along a cat that caused the family vehicle to crash. Other actions ...
In the beginning, the grandmother attempts to persuade her son to abandon his idea of traveling to Florida, as she disagrees in his plan to take his family to Florida because there is a criminal simply called The Misfit on the loose and has reportedly been seen around those parts. However, even when considering this, Bailey, the son, persists
Ultimately, she is the last family member alive toward the end in which she regressed back to innocence considering the fact she has never experienced death. When she began to continuously saying Jesus name her reaction to the new experience began to affect her thought process. This led her into more babbling than anything. However When the Misfit Gave his input about Jesus it allowed her mind to think deeper into his situation as well as her own.” “It ain’t right I wasn’t there because if I had of been there I would of known. Listen lady,” he said in a high voice, “if I had been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now.” His voice seemed to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant”” (720). Death is probably as complex as life can get, yet despite the fact that death awaits her, her last few words are as straightforward as they come. “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my
Catholic realism was present in the story near the end when “The Misfit” and his comrades came upon the family’s car. After realizing who the strange man before her was, the grandmother, begins a conversation with ‘the Misfit’, begging him to pray and appeal to his better nature. The grandmother, who appears to be deeply religious, attempts to press her faith upon the criminal and for him to have mercy on her. This represents a naivety in the old woman as she believes that this committed criminal is a
She also implies that she is in church when she asked him multiple times if he prays. The last part of her character that is revealed all throughout the story, from the beginning to the end, is that she's very talkative. Toward the end of the story she is trying to appeal to him and she continues to talk to him even after her son rudely hushes her. This is ironic because after she is shot the misfits states, "she would've been a good woman if it had been someone there to shoot her every minute of her life" (page 12). This shows the Misfits misogynistic character trait because he does not value the opinion or voice of women. His statement clearly shows how he would prefer a woman that is seen and not
One of the reasons the grandmother and the misfit are alike is because they are both responsible for different murders. As discussed in the
And the child took that to mean eat but it was actually the man's name which was Edgar Atkins Teagarden. The Misfit talks about how he didn't know what he went to jail for and how same thing happened to Jesus but they did not have papers on Jesus. The Misfit is a sociopath cold blood or killer with no motion at the very and he suggests that someone should shut the Grandmother every day of her life this says a lot about his character and what he thought of the