In the short story, The Misfit is a ruthless criminal who kills the grandmother. In particular, the old woman says: “you’re one of my babies.” Right after that, The Misfit bounces back and shoots her three times.
Detailed answer:
A Good Man Is Hard to Find is O’Connor’s best literary work. It was initially published in 1953 after the writer permanently moved to her mother’s dairy farm. In this masterpiece, O’Connor raises the everlasting themes of falsehood, violence, and selfishness. The uncomplicated title and opening of the novel portend nothing terrible in the plot. It describes an ordinary family with its plans and minor hassles. Nevertheless, the narration leads to a sorrowful and didactic upshot.
The story unfolds in the southern United States, Georgia. Bailey wants to take his wife with a baby, eight-year-old son John, daughter June, and his mother to Florida. Apart from minor quarrels between family members, everything seems to be going well. But, despite the peaceful and humorous beginning of the story, its ending is tragic and gruesome. Suddenly, on the road to Georgia, the car rolls over and falls down a slope. At the scene of the accident, they meet three escaped prisoners.
One face seems familiar to the grandmother. Looking better, she recognizes The Misfit, a cruel criminal. Seeing the pistol, the grandmother begs him not to do anything bad to them. She says that deep inside, he must be “a good man.” But, the criminals slay her relatives one by one, first Bailey, and then the rest. When a desperate scream bursts out in the distance, the distraught grandmother asks The Misfit not to kill her. She says, “you’re one of my babies.” But The Misfit shoots at her chest three times in a row, thereby killing her.
