clearly has no respect for his elderly grandmother and neither has the daughter, June Star, with.
her condescending attitude. The grandmother is no saint herself. Even though she believes,.
herself, to be of saintliness. She is often hypocritical and selfish. The grandmother wants to go.
to Tennessee and not to Florida, yet she is the first on in the car before they start their trip. She.
also considers herself the model of how a Christian lady should be, but she refers to the naked.
black boy as a "cute little pickaninny," (Barnet et al. 297 - 300). O'Connor wants the reader to.
see that the characters are not at all perfect nor are they sympathetic. The reason being is so the.
reader has a superficial desire o dislike the characters in the beginning. However, as the story.
unfolds, the reader is able to see the characters as physical beings and not fictional characters.
Any story in which death plays such a strong role must of necessity make the reader question the.
life the characters lead.
The family's encounter with the Misfit is critica to the story's anagogical level.
O'Connor depicts the death of the family differently than the grandmother. Bailey and John.
Wesley are the first to be taken to the woods to be murdered. However, they did not die.
without the chance to redeem themselves. Bailey, for the first time, shows that he cares for his .
mother. He tries to comfort the grandmother by saying, "I'll be back in a minute, Mamma, wait .
on me," (Barnet et al. 305). The boy, John Wesley, shows cooperation and respect when he .
quietly took his father's hand to go into the woods. Thus,the two of them have been redeemed. .
The wife, prior to her death sullen and rude to all, suddenly turns expuisitely polite and says, .
"Yes thank you," when the Misfit asks if she would like to join her husband and son in the .
woods, (Barnet et al.307). She is wellaware of her fate. She accepts this as if to accept Christ .