When it becomes clear that a person’s time of death has arisen, sometimes people will say words that they believe will prolong their lives either physically or spiritually. At times of death, people pray for their souls to be taken in god’s care and also they pray for their bodies to survive just a little bit longer. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother, at her time of death, compliments her soon-to-be murderer and tells him that he needs to pray. The Grandmother saying this to the Misfit is to silently convince herself that she is a “good person” as well and her telling him to pray is her way of justifying to Jesus that she has proven herself as a faithful servant of her religion.
When death comes knocking at her door she pleads with her murderer to prolong her life. She keeps trying to convince the Misfit that he is a good person and that he would not hurt a lady. She keeps repeating to the Misfit that she believes he is a good man. O’Connor shows her complimenting her killer in the following quote, “’Listen,’ the grandmother almost screamed, ‘I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people!’”.INSERT CITATION. It seems to be that she might actually be trying to convince herself that she is good as well. At the last moments of life sometimes people will contemplate in their lives what they have done whether it be good or bad. The grandmother while complimenting the Misfit is trying not only to prolong her life but trying to convince herself that she in fact is a good person. If she is a good person, she believes that she will be spared. The Grandmother’s character is considered to be self-centered, and she show her selfishness on multiple accounts during the story. An example is when her entire family has been killed she only continues to cry out only for her son. “There were two more pistol reports and the grandmother raised her head like a parched old turkey hen crying for water and called, “Bailey Boy, Bailey Boy!” as if her heart would break.” (INSERT CITATION). This represents a small portion of the selfish thoughts that this woman has. Typically when people are in moments that are life threatening, people will pray to their god for protection. …show more content…
The grandmother does this during the time with the Misfit but not exactly in the way that is considered normal. She asks the Misfit if he prays and pesters him multiple times that he should pray. This is similar to the same situation with her complimenting the Misfit in which she is trying to convince herself that she in fact is religious and connected to god. Earlier in the story the grandmother never mentions anything about her religion. Shortly before her death that is when she finally brings up the topic of praying and Jesus Christ. She pleads him to pray and it seems as if her way of asking him to pray is her way of she showing her dedication to her own religion. When pleading him to pray, this is her own version of prayer to her god. She is using the Misfit as her vessel of dedication to her religion and she believes that if she can convert the Misfit, that God would forgive her for her selfishness. Even
When death comes knocking at her door she pleads with her murderer to prolong her life. She keeps trying to convince the Misfit that he is a good person and that he would not hurt a lady. She keeps repeating to the Misfit that she believes he is a good man. O’Connor shows her complimenting her killer in the following quote, “’Listen,’ the grandmother almost screamed, ‘I know you’re a good man. You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people!’”.INSERT CITATION. It seems to be that she might actually be trying to convince herself that she is good as well. At the last moments of life sometimes people will contemplate in their lives what they have done whether it be good or bad. The grandmother while complimenting the Misfit is trying not only to prolong her life but trying to convince herself that she in fact is a good person. If she is a good person, she believes that she will be spared. The Grandmother’s character is considered to be self-centered, and she show her selfishness on multiple accounts during the story. An example is when her entire family has been killed she only continues to cry out only for her son. “There were two more pistol reports and the grandmother raised her head like a parched old turkey hen crying for water and called, “Bailey Boy, Bailey Boy!” as if her heart would break.” (INSERT CITATION). This represents a small portion of the selfish thoughts that this woman has. Typically when people are in moments that are life threatening, people will pray to their god for protection. …show more content…
The grandmother does this during the time with the Misfit but not exactly in the way that is considered normal. She asks the Misfit if he prays and pesters him multiple times that he should pray. This is similar to the same situation with her complimenting the Misfit in which she is trying to convince herself that she in fact is religious and connected to god. Earlier in the story the grandmother never mentions anything about her religion. Shortly before her death that is when she finally brings up the topic of praying and Jesus Christ. She pleads him to pray and it seems as if her way of asking him to pray is her way of she showing her dedication to her own religion. When pleading him to pray, this is her own version of prayer to her god. She is using the Misfit as her vessel of dedication to her religion and she believes that if she can convert the Misfit, that God would forgive her for her selfishness. Even