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Contributions from: Kirsten, Kelsey, Katie, Bailey
(412) "'Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed towards Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it.'"
(413) "In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady."
(417) "'All right,' Bailey said, 'but get this: this is the only time we're going to stop for anything like this. This is the one and only time.'"
(419) "[The Misfit's car] was a big black battered hearse-like automobile."
Kirsten >>> Foreshadowing plays an important role in the story. With the first example, the reader is left wondering why the Grandmother -- later understood for being the instigator of the perils of their journey (leading them to the house that actually wasn't there, secretly bringing the cat that jumped on Bailey to cause the accident, blurting out the murderer's identity leaving him no choice but to kill them) -- would mention The Misfit if not for that he would appear in the story again. The second passage presents the grandmother's desire to cling to the ideals of being "a lady", while foreshadowing how this will result in her demise. Bailey's warning that this will be the only stop they will make for the rest of the journey is darkly ironic and hints at the perilous future they have waiting for them, and the mention of the "hearse-like" car further suggests their approaching death.
(416) "Red Sam came in and told his wife to quit lounging on the counter and hurry up with these people's order...
"'Because you're a good man!' the grandmother said at once.
'Yes'm I suppose so,' Red Sam said as if he were struck with this answer..."
[Red Sam's wife says:] 'And I don't count nobody our of that, not nobody,' she repeated, looking at Red Sammy..."
"'A good man is hard to find,' Red Sammy said. 'Everything is getting terrible. I remember the day you could go off and leave you screen door unlatched. Not no more...'"
"[Red Sam's monkey] was busy catching fleas on himself and biting each one carefully between his teeth as if it were a delicacy."
Kirsten >>> I think this part in the diner is included in the story because it shows the way the grandmother believes that good character is a result of coming from "good people" (a belief which she also applies to herself while in actuality she is manipulative and selfish). She says that Red Sam is a good man, likely because he has his own business, a wife, and even the sign outside his restaurant makes him appear good stating that he's, "A VETERAN!". But the reader gets the impression that he is actually not good as he's disrespectful to his wife; even her comment that she doesn't trust anyone is directed towards Red Sammy. His grey (also the colour of the cat that causes the accident and then later rubs against The Misfit at the end of the section and that appears other places in the final section) monkey's action of biting the fleas is symbolic of the way that someone whom the grandmother believes to be a good man according to her ideals will hurt her.
(424) "'Jesus thrown everything off balance. It was the same case with Him as with me except He hadn't committed any crime and they could prove I had committed one because they had the papers on me. Of course,' he said, 'they never shown me any papers.'"
Kirsten >>> This is ironic since the Misfit is meant to be the ultimate villain in the story -- a cold-blooded murderer -- yet here he seems almost compassionate, comparable to Jesus. Even though it's understood that he very likely did kill his father, I still don't exactly see him as evil even at the end of the story since he was the only one who could make the grandmother understand human connection. The Misfit also has dignity, unlike his two companions, which also makes him sympathetic.
Bailey >>> I agree that the Misfit is the opposite of Jesus, based on his actions. Jesus threw everything off balance because he allowed himself to be caught. If he'd fought back the world would have been different.
(424) "'If He did what He said, then it's nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and if He didn't, then it's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can'"
Kirsten >>> I think that by saying this, the Misfit means that there's no grey (that color again) area in religion -- that either a person believes in Jesus, or he doesn't and he must accept the consequences.
Kelsey >>> This story is widely based around religious ideas and assumptions. The grandmother takes herself as a good Christian woman, even though she does not practice the qualities that come with this title. The grandmother is very hypocritical, wanting others to act honest and trustworthy, while she lies to and judges other people.
Katie >>> I got a slightly different impression of this quote. I felt like the Misfit was having a hard time understanding or accepting the teachings of Jesus because he couldn't physically see Jesus' work. He seems highly skeptical of the grandmother's religious beliefs and he questions religion instead of just accepting it. This could be seen as a positive or negative aspect of the Misfit.
Bailey >>>The Misfit questions how can one truly know, what to believe. I believe this parallels his life, because there seems to be a lot of gray area in it when he doesn't know why things happened in his life the way they did. He seems to battle with the idea of faith and the need for proof. He constantly needs solid proof in life, and therefore he can't have faith if he needs solid proof.
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(424) "'Jesus!' the old lady cried. 'You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady.'"
(425) "She saw the man's face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, 'Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!' She reached out and touched him on the shoulder...
Kelsey >>> Note how there is an exchange that goes on between Bailey and the Misfit. It is almost as if they switch places. "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" (p. 425) Bailey and the Misfit are often in similar positions like squatting, making it even more possible that this change occurred.
"'She would have been a good woman,' The Misfit said, 'if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.'"
Kirsten >>> All of the characters in the story are centered primarily on their own wants and desires, especially the grandmother. They don't have any real feelings of love or connection towards one another and their belief that "good blood" makes people good is warped. Only when the Misfit holds a gun in her face does the single genuine human connection occur in the story as she realizes that her own prejudiced beliefs are similar to the gruesome actions of the Misfit, and calls him her child (does this relate to their both being "children of God"?).
Kelsey >>> Towards the end of the story the grandmother begins to realize the false morals her life has been based upon, especially when the Misfit begins to demean the actions of Jesus. With this realization comes freedom and peace -- "looking down at the grandmother who half sat and half lay in a puddle of blood with her legs crossed under her like a child's and her face smiling up at the cloudless sky." (p. 425) O'Connor notes how the grandmother is finally cleansed of her judgments towards others and accepts that all men are created equal. Her mind thinks rationally when she has a gun in her face.
"'She would have been a good woman,' The Misfit said, 'if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.'"
Katie >>> Although this quote seems harsh it is a legitimate conclusion. Near the end of the story the grandmother becomes more open-minded and attains a type of revelation. It seems like everyone would be changed and more awareÊif they had this same jolt of open-mindedness that the grandmother receives in the end of the story.
Bailey >>> This is her revelation, that everyone is the same, in the sense that everyone has a soul, and she begins to see this in The Misfit. She would have been a good woman, if she'd kept having these epiphanies without neding to be killed.
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