Due to Flannery O’ Connor’s deep religious roots she often includes many character references to the Bible and to Christianity. Through out her life O’ Connor Remained a devote Catholic and never turned from her religion. (Lit. 672) Some of the characters are very clear while others are vaguer in their meaning. For example there are two distinct side or faces in this story; the grandmother represents the good or the Godliness of people while the Misfit is obviously the evil one or the devil of the story. However, at the same time, the Misfit can almost be referred to as a Christ symbol but at the same time is also puzzled by Jesus. (Whitt 46) O’ Connor purposely places these religious characters in many of her works and in this one in particular in order to show the breakdown of social order and her lack of faith in humanity through making her characters, the misfit and the grandmother, into the biblical characters of the Devil, Jesus, and God.

The character of the Misfit is truly a puzzling one. This is a man who is a killer yet very polite in the way he talks. Clearly he represents the evil side in this story and someone who is the opposite of the grandmother. He is an escaped co

The grandmother then called him one of her children right before she died. This is significant because by calling him her child, it is like a statement for her forgiveness of his sins, which is one of the most stressed teachings of Christianity, forgiveness. The misfit later states “She would have been a very good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.”(133). The Misfit is talking about the grace the grandmother showed and the true values of Christianity when she knew that she was going to die. He means that if someone were there to show the same kind of threat that he did, she would have shown the same compassion and grace her entire life.

nvict who has taken the family hostage and eventually executes them all in cold blood. While he is a murderer, he is very soft spoken and ironically very polite in the way he speaks to the grandmother. While it is easy to label the Misfit as evil, there are several instances in the text where he can be compared to as Jesus. It is strange and difficult to see a good side in the character of the Misfit and to see a hopeful future for this character. It is obvious that he has no conflict within himself when the members of the family are killed one at a time. When he shoots the grandmother in the chest, he simply wipes his glasses and carries on like it was a trivial event. However, it is as though he realizes that he is an evil person and realizes that he could have turned out better if certain events in his life never happened and if he was present for a specific event. “I wisht I had of been there,” he said, hitting the ground with his fist. “It ain’t right I wasn’t there because if I had been there I would have known. Listen lady,” he said in a high voice, “if I had been there I would have known and I wouldn’t be like I am now.”(132). He is implying that if he actually saw Jesus with his very own eyes and if he had seen the things that Jesus has done, he would have been a believer and live a good life. This is something that affects many people today. Many do not believe in Jesus because they did not personally witness his life and see firsthand weather or not he did all those things that are told in the bible. It is human nature not to believe in something that we did not see or something that cannot be proved with hard evidence. Jesus in the bible is the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary. The Misfit makes a statement about his parents and the similarities between

Some topics in this essay:
Jesus God, Jesus Jesus, Father Heaven, Holy Spirit, Mary Misfit, Connor Remained, God O’Connor, Jesus Misfit, Mary Christian, O’ Connor, character misfit, virgin mary, biblical characters, christian theology, teachings christianity, devil jesus, devil jesus god, told bible, story jesus, grandmother god, save times, misfit shot grandmother, grandmother symbolized god,