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The Misfit - Essay

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The Misfit - Essay
The Misfit

I am writing my paper on a character from the story A Good Man is hard to find by Flannery O'Connor. The story is about a family traveling to Florida on a road trip and the Grandmother is complaining about the trip and warning her family about The Misfit whom she has been reading about in the newspaper. The Misfit is a serial killer who has escaped from prison and is on the loose. In a great deal of ways, I can relate to the character of The Misfit because even though he is a killer,
I personally think that he is not at all insane. Sometimes in life, people find themselves in unbearable predicaments through no fault of their own and have to stay the course. Even if it’s very clear that the environment or situation is dangerous, there is no way to avoid it. Thus creating a jolt in the persons’ thought process and no longer allows them to express what is called everyday “rational” thought. The Misfit is a wanted criminal who stumbles upon the family when they crash

Polite 2 their car in the woods. He lives by a moral code that involves murder and remorselessness, but he also spends time wondering about Jesus. He doesn’t know for sure whether Jesus really raised the dead, has opted for “meanness” as a way of giving his life meaning. He doesn’t see himself as a terrible person. His two associates kill the entire family, and the Misfit shoots the grandmother himself. I understand that his ways and concept of life is unorthodox, but strains on a man’s life can do that . The Misfit seems an unlikely source to look to for spiritual or moral guidance, but he demonstrates a deep conviction that the other characters in the story lack. Unlike the grandmother, who simply assumes that she is morally superior to everyone else, the Misfit seriously questions the meaning of life and his role in it. He has carefully considered his actions in life and examined his experiences to find lessons within them which

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