Topic > Analysis of the Misfit Character in A Good Man is Hard to Find

In A Good Man is Hard to Find, the Misfit represents an instrumental evil character. He is a serial killer who kills his father and entire family in the text. In this story, the grandmother tries to persuade Bailey, her son, to take her and her family to East Tennessee because she doesn't like going to Florida. He explains that his children have already visited Florida and that the Misfit escaping from a prison moves to Florida based on a newspaper; therefore, Bailey decides to take his family and his mother to go to East Tennessee. Before the journey begins, the grandmother takes and hides her cat in a basket without telling anyone in her family. During the trip they stop at a restaurant. The grandmother converses with the owner and his wife. They are afraid of the Misfit because his wife says he would steal them if he were here. The family continues their journey. They have an accident because the cat escaping from a trash can scares Bailey. They have to stop and wait for someone to help them. Now, the Misfit and his two armed partners come from the family. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Misfit and the two boys seem to want to help the family fix the car. The story portrays the Misfit talking politely to the grandmother and wanting to help them. The Misfit is calm when the grandmother says that he is the Misfit wanted by the police. In front of the entire family, Grandma tries to talk to the Misfit to stop him from killing her family. The Misfit says that his mother is the best in the world and that his father's heart is pure gold (O'Connor, 60). Furthermore, he says he is different from his brothers and sisters. He is aware that he is not a good man. However, he does not admit that he is the worse man and does not kill his father. He explains that his father had died due to a flu epidemic and explains that the exact location where his father was buried is in Mount Hopewell Baptist Cemetery. Also, in his mind, he was a good guy and something he did wrong made him a bad person. The conversation between the Misfit and the grandmother indicates that the Misfit recognizes good and evil. The grandmother tries to talk about Jesus to help him become aware of good and evil. However, he doesn't care. In the world, the only thing that has meaning to him is killing people and burning down houses, even though he believes God exists. The grandmother tries to talk about Jesus to help him become aware of good and evil. However, he doesn't care. He orders the two men to kill the family. Shoot the grandmother without hesitation. A good man is hard to find, the story does not describe the physical appearance of the Misfit; however, his thoughts and actions are evil. He was arrested for killing his father. Later, he killed the entire family to give it meaning. Many criminals commit crimes because of their motivations, such as power, revenge, or money. In contrast, there is no motivation for The Misfit. “There's never been an organization that tips the undertaker,” the Misfit said to Grandma, when Grandma offered him money. Indicates that he kills people not for money. He feels good and happy when he kills people and burns down houses. Some people criticize that he is sociopath and mental health. In fact, his hobbies demonstrate how sociopathic he is. Sociopath is used for a person who suffers from a personality disorder due to antisocial attitudes, behaviors, and lack of empathy (“9 Ways to Spot a Sociopath,” 2017). As he said “No pleasure but meanness” (63). Also, the way she wishes "if there had been someone there to shoot her every minute of her life" (64) to her grandmother. Thehis desire shows that he completely lacks conscience. He kills his grandmother without hesitation, and even though she was dead, he still wants this for his life. Furthermore, people would agree that he is psychopathic. The sign of psychopathy is irresponsible behavior. He denies killing his father. He told his grandmother that he was accused because the doctor's documentation proves his murder. In fact, he doesn't need to explain his case to his grandmother. However, he tries to convince that he is not entirely bad. He likes killing people, but he didn't kill his father. He always thinks that the epidemic flu caused his father's death. So, his sociopath and psychopath expose mental health through his violent thinking and actions. In contrast, although the Misfit is a sociopath and a psychopath through the above analysis, he is very kind to Grandma. For example, when his grandmother recognizes him, he responds with satisfaction. He also apologizes to his grandmother for not wearing a shirt. These examples show that he is not always violent, even though he likes killing people. Furthermore, he states "I was never a bad guy that I can remember." In his mind, he thinks he was born as a good person, but there is something wrong that makes him a bad person. In fact, the Misfit also told his grandmother: “But at some point I did something wrong and I was sent to the penitentiary. I was buried alive." He seems to be complaining about something he did wrong that destroyed his life, which makes him a bad person. It's so crazy, because he doesn't remember what he did. Based on these reasons above, we could say that he is innocent. We couldn't judge people when they can't remember what they did and are sociopaths and psychopaths. However, "I found that crime doesn't matter." You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you will forget what you did and you will be punished for it" (62) condemns it completely is an instrumental evil. Evil instrumental defines that someone can distinguish between good and evil. They know evil, but they still choose evil. His explanation shows that there is no guilt for killing someone and is not afraid of punishment he, then says "I don't want anything" and "I'm doing well on my own". for him. Indeed, he kills the entire family without guilt. His evilness still shows strong violence in his mind at the end of the story. The grandmother was dead, but he continues to wish every minute that someone here would shoot her two partners of The Misfit are linked to his evilness. They enjoy killing people. They told the Misfit it was funny when the Misfit wished someone would kill his grandmother every minute. So, we could say that the Misfit chooses his life to become an instrumental evil. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To summarize, it is really difficult to make a decision that the Misfit in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a villain because the above analysis also shows that there are sociopaths and psychopaths in his mind. When a character also has a mental health symptom, many people cannot conclude that the character is truly evil due to his violence showing evil to the audience. The Misfit is an interesting character to analyze a villain. In fact he doesn't admit to killing his father. He always thinks that his parents are great and good people. Also, he's a serial killer, but.