This is my favorite story from this semester that we have read thus far. The grandmother reminded me so much of one of my family members that I actually felt guilty for thinking that when the Misfit shot her. The Grandmother had an opinion on everything and was going to share it no matter what. She did not want to go on vacation to Florida, instead to Tennessee to visit family. Her main reasoning with her son, Bailey, and his family was because the Misfit, an escaped convict, was on the loose and the authorities presumed him heading towards Florida. The Grandmother mentions this several times throughout the story, possibly foreshadowing that they would actually encounter him. It’s ironic that she is so dead-set on going to Florida since the Misfit is there but then she’s the one who gets the family in the situation where they encounter him.
The protagonist in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the Grandmother. She is the main character; however, with how opinionated and how much she talked, no one else would have been able to be the main character. She wouldn’t have allowed that. The antagonist is the Misfit, an escaped convict. He travels with two other men, Bobby Lee and Hiram.
There are two crises back-to-back within the story. The first one is when they have the car wreck due to the grandmother’s ignorance, and cat. The wreck leads to the second crisis which is the family’s encounter with the Misfit and his crew. The family thinks help has arrived, and it possibly has, until the grandmother opened her mouth about recognizing the Misfit. I believe Bailey and his wife had already recognized him but they were smart enough to keep quiet about it.
When the family stops for dinner at the little Barbeque joint, I believe the owner, Red Sam, had already been taken by the Misfit. Red Sam mentioned how the Misfit, if in that area would probably come rob him if he heard Red Sam had “two cents in the cash register”. What Red Sam doesn’t realize is that the two boys he gave gas to on credit were probably the boys working with the Misfit. In one way the Misfit had already robbed him.
The Grandmother is a clear illustration of dramatic irony. Several times I thought about how much better the family’s situation would be if she would not talk so much and be so opinionated. This is the case even before the run-in with the Misfit. Bailey, I’m sure, was probably a bundle of stress. How could he not be? There had to have been major tension growing between them. The obvious dramatic irony is when the Grandmother keeps talking to the Misfit. Their situation may have stayed the same but I think if they acted like they didn’t recognize the Misfit, it may have been okay. He may have helped them fix their car and go on.
It was surprising that the Misfit had the family shot before the Grandmother, especially after what he says in the end about her being a good woman. I would have expected her to go first.
As sad as this story should have been, I found it rather amusing, even comical. The interactions between the grandmother and her grandchildren, who are brats, were great. The children said things to her that I was thinking; for example, John Wesley tells her “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?” then June Star points out that the Grandmother wouldn’t stay home because she’s “afraid she’d miss something” which is absolutely true. It was especially funny when they had the accident and June Star was disappointed that no one had died “as the grandmother limped out of the car.” It’s bad when a child is annoyed with a grandparent.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The comical aspect, turn of events, and the surprises really kept my interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment