The "Good" Misfit

The group discussion during class about A Good Man is Hard to Find written by Flannery O’Connor brought up conflicting views on who we as readers though was as fault for the families death.  The grandmother gave directions leading to a house that she supposedly had fond memories of.  Little did they know that the house she was speaking of was in a completely different state and in the opposite direction.  The children begged and pleaded with their father, Bailey, to go see the house because they were interested in the hidden silver that was never found.  Bailey finally complied, but was still resentful.  To make a long story short, because of the decision to go see the house, all of the family members were killed by the Misfit, a man rumored to have committed crimes and was on the run.  Now, between the grandmother and the Misfit, which of these characters did O’Connor want us to side with as to who was responsible for the families deaths? 

From the title, I think that O’Connor wants readers to defend the Misfit. By using the title A Good Man is Hard to Find, O’Connor is conveying that the story is in search of a good man.  And by the end of the story we do find a good man, the Misfit.  We can define the Misfit as good because of how he is characterized differently than the other men.   As we read through the story we come across Red Sammy, who is rude to and demanding of his wife.  “Red Sam came in and told his wife to quit lounging on the counter and hurry up with these people’s orders” (121). Then there is Bailey, who shows no affection towards his wife and is also rude to the grandmother.  “Bailey turned his head sharply and said something to his mother that shocked even the children. The old lady began to cry…” (127).  From these example we can characterized these two men as not being good men.  Compared to the other men in the story, like Red Sammy and Bailey, the Misfit is characterized as having manners towards the grandmother.  After hearing Bailey yell at the grandmother, the Misfit says; “Lady” he said, “don’t you get upset. Sometimes a man says things he don’t mean.  I don’t reckon he meant to talk to you that away” (127).  Although it seems irrational to be on the side of the murder, this evidence from O’Connor implies that the Misfit is indeed a good man. 

In defense of the Misfit, this argument would place the blame on the grandmother.  Although she did not intend to, she lead her family astray.  The grandmother brought the cat along for the trip and the grandmother lead them in the wrong direction.  When she happens realize this, she jumps and spooks the cat, causing Bailey to crash the car.  This is a series of unfortunate events which are all traced back to the actions of the grandmother and not the behavior of the Misfit.