The Misfit Definition Of A Good Woman
According to the author, a good man is one who courts a woman, who is respectful, and is not one of “common” blood. The grandmother in the story refers to “the misfit”, the criminal on the run, as a good man. When she does this, she contradicts herself from her previous definition of what a good man should be. The misfit is not a good man, although he could have been, had he been sent to prison for the death of his father. The misfit was unjustly prosecuted and explains that is where his life went to shambles, which may be the reason he is not a “good” man anymore. The misfit describes the grandmother as a “good” woman if she just didn’t talk so much. Giving the idea that a “good” woman is one that knows he place and does not speak out of place
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The first time, Phoenix gets her skirt caught and tangled up in a thorn bush, and after attempting to remove it from one it would get caught in another. The following text from the short story explains just that, “Her eyes opened their widest, and she started down gently. But before she got to the bottom of the hill a bush caught her dress. Her fingers were busy and intent, but her skirts were full and long, so that before she could pull them free in one place they were caught in another” (Welty, 1940.) The second time Phoenix appears to stray from her mission or abandon it temporarily is when she comes across a black dog. The dog comes out of some weeds in the area and causes her to trip and fall into a nearby ditch. When Phoenix falls into the ditch she begins to talk to herself, stating the dog was there for the sole purpose of stalling her or slowing her down. The third instance we see Phoenix stray away from the mission takes place at a doctor’s office. While in the doctor’s office Phoenix forgets why she even made her way to the doctor to begin with. Despite the obstacles Phoenix felt were placed in her way to prevent her from making it to the doctor, she pushed on regardless of how bad things got. Phoenix’s character shows a sense of resilience and determination that we observe in other stories about hero’s or even things we teach our children today, not to give up
The first time, Phoenix gets her skirt caught and tangled up in a thorn bush, and after attempting to remove it from one it would get caught in another. The following text from the short story explains just that, “Her eyes opened their widest, and she started down gently. But before she got to the bottom of the hill a bush caught her dress. Her fingers were busy and intent, but her skirts were full and long, so that before she could pull them free in one place they were caught in another” (Welty, 1940.) The second time Phoenix appears to stray from her mission or abandon it temporarily is when she comes across a black dog. The dog comes out of some weeds in the area and causes her to trip and fall into a nearby ditch. When Phoenix falls into the ditch she begins to talk to herself, stating the dog was there for the sole purpose of stalling her or slowing her down. The third instance we see Phoenix stray away from the mission takes place at a doctor’s office. While in the doctor’s office Phoenix forgets why she even made her way to the doctor to begin with. Despite the obstacles Phoenix felt were placed in her way to prevent her from making it to the doctor, she pushed on regardless of how bad things got. Phoenix’s character shows a sense of resilience and determination that we observe in other stories about hero’s or even things we teach our children today, not to give up