way around. A good woman is what’s really hard to find. What happened to the image of

the genteel southern lady who was the embodiment of everything that is considered

womanly, beautiful, and serene by the Southern society? The Grandmother is from the

South, yet she is probably one of the most materialistic, hypocritical characters in the

story. The Grandmother’s actions, thoughts, and beliefs are all in direct conflict with the

image that she is supposedly portraying to the world around her

The Grandmother’s actions reflect a great deal about her true character. She is so concerned with what people will think of her and the family. Image is everything, which is an incredibly uptight and snooty way of thinking. “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (385). This statement is a perfect example of how judgmental and stuck up the grandmother is. She is more concerned with whether or not someone will know that she was a true lady than she is with the idea of someone finding her body on the side of the highway. It is normal for a person to be concerned with the ma

It can be argued that the grandmother really is a good woman. She is never a truly “bad” person. She simply has some rather hypocritical tendencies. Before she is killed by The Misfit, however, the grandmother experiences a moment of clarity, so to speak. She says to him, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (394). This can be considered in many ways a biblical allusion to Jesus, who showed love and forgiveness to everyone, including his executioners. The grandmother knows that he is going to kill her and that there is no way to stop him, but she still says to him that he is one of hers. Basically, she is absolving him of the wrongs he is about to do against her. She forgives him for everything, just as Jesus forgave those that sinned against him. However, just because she turns over a new leaf and miraculously becomes the forgiving woman that she should have been to begin with does not make the grandmother a good person. She should have been kind and forgiving at all times, not just when she was going to be killed. The Misfit says, “She would have been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life,” (395). This just proves: She was only a good woman when she was about to die. The grandmother can also be considered a good woman because she was able to get inside The Misfit’s thinking, so to speak. She is able to reach him in a way that nobody else has. When they first started talking he said, “No pleasure but meanness,” (394). After The Misfit has killed the grandmother he says, “Shut up, Bobby Lee, its [killing] no real pleasure in life,” (395). From one small conversation with the grandmother The Misfit has changed his entire way of thinking. This doesn’t necessarily make her a good woman. It is quit possible that the only reason The Misfit hadn’t changed his mind before about the pleasure of killing is simply because nobody had ever challenged his way of thinking. Nobody bothered to ask about his life or tell him that there is another side to living. The grandmother didn’t purposely set out to change The Misfit. She was simply being her normal, nosy self, getting involved in other people’s business that has nothing to do with her. The Misfit wasn’t an entirely bad person before he met the grandmother. He proves himself to have some sense of moral decency and respect. For, when the grandmother recognizes The Misfit and Bailey starts yelling at her, The Misfit says, “Lady, don’t you get upset. Sometimes a man says things he don’t mean. I don’t reckon he meant to talk to you thataway,” (391). This shows that the Misfit actually did have feelings and showed some sympathy towards her and that he wasn’t completely incapable of feeling kind emotions toward another person. He speaks fondly of his fami

Some topics in this essay:
June Star, Misfit Grandmother, Southern Southern, Grandmother South, Misfit Bailey, Bobby Lee, John Wesley, Georgia Tennessee, Hard Find”, Bailey Misfit, stay home, june star, what’s hard, wouldn’t stay home, red sam’s, grandmother reader, grandmother’s actions, materialistic hypocritical, wearing pants, actions beliefs, person met grandmother, woman what’s hard, wouldn’t stay,