AP Lit Essay

In the short stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Revelation” by Flannery O’ Connor the alienated antagonist are both the keys to the enlightenment of the protagonists Grandma and Mrs.Turpin. They are both egocentric, judgmental and believe they are holier than thou. They are thus confronted by those for whom they alienated The Misfit and Mary Grace. Those they assumed to be inferior now shine light on there clouded minds. In the beginning of the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” The Misfit was alienated by the Grandmother by her exclaim of how bad of a person he is. And he is one of the many things wrong with the country. Then when the Grandmother meets The Misfit in person she suddenly has a “change of heart” about him. As The Grandmother advises The Misfit to pray to Jesus, Hiram and Bobby Lee return from the woods dragging Bailey's shirt and The Misfit puts it on. Then Bobby Lee and Hiram politely help up The Mother and June Star to take them back into the woods, as well. The Grandmother begins to panic and resumes trying to convince The Misfit to find Jesus. She repeats, "I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady." She thus contradicts herself because earlier in the story she clams of his bad parents. Then she bargains with him, offering all her money to save her life. When The Grandmother hears the pistol shots that announce the deaths of the rest of her family deep in the woods, she cries out, "Bailey Boy!" for her son. The Misfit reminds her that no one has raised the dead except for Jesus, and opines that Jesus shouldn't have done that: the only pleasure he finds in life is "meanness." He reveals his lack of faith in God by saying that he can't believe Jesus even raised the dead, since he wasn't there to see it, and blames this lack of knowledge for how he has turned out. Noticing he looks like he is about to cry, The Grandmother cries out, "Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!" and touches