Violence in A Good Man is Hard to Find by O'Connor - Book Report/Review Example

After the cat jumped on Bailey's shoulder and caused the car to wreck, the grandmother was scared of Bailey's reaction. She was relieved to see the other car coming at first. Upon recognizing the Misfit, the grandmother blurted out who he was. If she would have not recognized him, maybe the men would have just stolen the car. Maybe they would have fixed the car and had the family take them somewhere. However once the grandmother said the Misfit's name, she signed their death warrants. When Bailey said the nasty phrase that made his mother cry, he knew that they would all be killed.

The Misfit and the grandmother had a conversation as his friends were killing her family in the woods. In some ways, the Misfit heard the grandmother and vice versa, unlike their respective friends and families. The grandmother was trying to relate to the Misfit by insisting he must be a good man. The Misfit was trying to explain that he was not a good man. The grandmother's words are what condemned her to death. The grandmother was trying to conform to the Misfit into her idea of a good man.

The Misfit was not that man. In many ways, the Misfit was more honest than the grandmother. He knew who he was; a thief, killer, and reprobate. The grandmother had lived a hypocritical life. Her goal was to be seen as a lady when in reality she was not. She lied, manipulated, and twisted her son daily. The Misfit knew this. "She would have been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." The violence is what made her real. In this way, she was just like the Misfit.

The violence made him real.