Thank God it this is finally our last blog. I do not think I
could handle one more of these. Five hundred words have proven to be much more
than I anticipated. Let’s see, what should I talk about… Well first of all, I
think that our last seminar on “A Good man is Hard to Find” was pretty
successful. Everybody assumed their typical positions- Max took his usual cynical
outlook, Prosper attempted to bring in Bible verses in every scenario, Jonathan
threw in some commentary for my own entertainment, and it got pretty heated. I think
I will miss the enthusiasm of my first period peers. But anyways, personally, I
think that The Misfit is exactly that of a distorted Christ figure. The Misfit
ironically saves the grandmother in the end by shooting her. He has opened the
grandma’s eyes and she can finally see things clearly. He even mentions that
she would have been a good lady if someone shot her every second of her life.
So, he acknowledges that she is saved in the end. He realizes that his actions
made her a good lady. Also, he goes from believing that murder is a pleasure to
shortly after discovering that it is not. In the end, it is almost as if he is plagued
by this duty to continue on his evil ways, perhaps for the better of humanity.
He has given up his life to save others. Although it is cruel and bizarre, The
Misfit certainly has Christ-like characteristics. I think that he becomes so
solemn in the end because he has accepted his fate and looks at murder as a job
rather than a pleasure. The Misfit is a smart guy; he is just a bit confused on
his path in life. What he knows for certain though is that his murders made
someone good and I think he knows how rare it is to find a genuinely good
person. I am not really sure what Flannery O’Connor’s goal was. I guess she had
a lot in mind. Obviously hypocrisy is evident throughout the story so I guess
she felt the need to satirize society in that matter. Another interesting thing
to think about is that maybe Max was right and there really was not much meaning
behind this story. Although where is the fun in that? I guess it could just be
about an annoying old lady getting what she deserves but then the ending would
not really make sense. That is why I am pretty sure there is a deeper purpose
behind this. In the lit book Flannery O’Connor makes some comments on this
story saying that The Misfit is not a Christ Figure and that there is hardly
any symbolism. But all of the notes on her emphasize her Catholicism and her common
use of a distorted Christ figure. O’Connor was probably just being sassy when
she said what is in the lit book. Well, that’s all for now folks. yayyyy