A Moment of Grace

“A Moment Of Grace”
In the short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", Flannery O’Connor utilizes the theme as a literary element to create multiple features of her characters in the story such as those of Bailey's mother known as the Grandmother and The Misfit. The Grandmother considers herself as a proper southern lady that is upright and wise but not until the story takes a tragic turn does she begin to realize that she is not who she thinks she is.
As the story begins, The Grandmother is complaining about going on a road trip to Florida; she'd rather visit friends in east Tennessee. The Grandmother worries to the rest of the family about The Misfit, whom she has been reading about in the newspaper. The Misfit is a serial killer who has escaped from the Federal Penitentiary and is on the loose. The next morning, the family sets out on the road trip. The Grandmother remembers an old plantation that she thinks used to be in the area they are near. Bailey does not want to take a detour to go find it, so The Grandmother makes up a lie about how there are secret doors in the house with hidden treasure which makes Bailey’s children scream and complain until their father agrees to turn around and drive down the dirt driveway. However, after they have been driving for a while, The Grandmother realizes that the old plantation is actually nowhere around there at all. Her reaction causes the cat to escape from its box and jump on Bailey's shoulder, and he shifts off the road.
The car has flipped over and ends up in a ditch, a car then approaches, three men come out. The Grandmother recognizes The Misfit, and he answers, "it would have been better for all of you, lady, if you hadn't of reckernized me."(Pg. 360, Paragraph 83.) She begins to talk about how The Misfit is clearly not of "common blood,"(Pg.360, Paragraph 88.) and how he must "come from nice people," (Pg.360, Paragraph 88.) flattering him. But he calmly orders his two buddies to take Bailey and his son into the woods, and soon gunshots ring out as they are murdered.
As The Grandmother advises The Misfit to pray to Jesus, the two buddies Bobby Lee and Hiram return from the woods dragging Bailey's yellow shirt with bright blue parrots on it, and The Misfit puts it on. Then Bobby Lee and Hiram politely lead Bailey’s wife and daughter 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."(Pg. 363, Paragraph 128) 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!"(Pg. 362, Paragraph 108.) 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!"(Pg.364, Paragraph 136.) and touches him on the shoulder. The Misfit responds by firing three shots into her chest and killing her.
In the story it showed transformation in the grandmother as the story progressed. In the beginning, she was more concerned about looking like a good Christian than being a good Christian. This is shown by her selfish desire to go to Tennessee instead of Florida and, more importantly, by her attempts to save her own life, even as her family continued to die around her; made worse by the fact that if she had kept her mouth shut, none of them would have been killed. In the end, she realizes she has not led a good life and reaches out to touch her killer, the Misfit, in a final act of grace. Even though she fails, her attempt is not lost on the Misfit, who remarks that through enduring violence, she would have been a good woman if there had been someone to shoot her every day.