Danger seems inevitable when shallow travelers, who are embodiments of the self-interested materialistic society, embark on a road trip to an unsure destination. When tragedy strikes, personality traits can be held accountable. One particular character, the grandmother, the central character in "A Good Man is Hard to Find- is a naive, deceitful, and self-serving woman who leads her family to tragedy.
The grandmother's nave tendency ironically leads to an ending of tragedy when she lost her voice to what seemed like fate as "not a cloud or sun was in the sky-(312). She was constantly consumed with a fear that she would miss something. "She wouldn't stay at home for a million bucks. Afraid she'd miss something. She has to go everywhere we go- (303). The first to the car, sitting in the middle of the back seat, was the nave grandmother writing down the exact mileage and time of their departure as if she was a little girl. Her nave behavior caught up with her in the end when she did not think before she spoke as she immediately told the MisFit she recognized him and referred to him as one of her own children. Her frequent references to him having good blood and coming from a good family hampered her escape from the MisFit and only further irritated him with her incessant rambling.
Furthermore, on the surface the grandmother appears to be a good person, but she is also a deceitful character that repeatedly endangered her family. She forces her family to abide by her wishes and she seizes every opportunity to get what she wants. By manipulating her grandchildren, the grandmother gets her son to go back to the house with the "secret panel,"" causing them to meet the MisFit, and ultimately the destruction of the entire family in the woods. As well, much irony lies in these lines as the grandmother deviously insists to visit the mountains in Tennessee, but indeed led the family directly into the MisFit's tragic path: "I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it.
