The story A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery ends when the criminal members are separated from the Misfit. He is left behind with the Grandmother who tries to talk to him of her goodness and trying to change him from what she terms as bad decisions and choices of his life. The Misfit is left dressed in a yellow colored shirt that had previously been worn continuously by Bailey. Grandmother tries to express her kind words to him when she realized that he could even end her life. She is known to be a self-centered person who wants everything to happen in her favor and does not care if it is creating a negative impact on the opposite parties. She can even detour the trip to places of her choice and influence the rest of the family to go with her to visit areas that are of her pleasure (O’Connor, 272). When an accident occurs, that is the point where she realizes her life is in danger and tries to clean her soul since her child can confess she is not a good woman. She has caused the suffering of her son in greater depths and goes on to forget about him since she is entirely concerned with her self.

O’Connor as the author of the story shows how a nagging and troublesome woman causes death to her self. He goes on to bring the idea that despite facing death as the fate of any wrongdoings and personal interests, significant consequences of regret and lack of self-confidence are greatly portrayed. She touches the Misfit during her stories and refers to him as one of her children which in return tampers with his emotions to the point that he cannot bear and shoots her back without consideration. He had suffered so much in jail and he was still being affected by the actions of the Grandmother who was not willing to change in any way. She even takes time to remember her own son and it hits her later that they belong together (Bandy, 98). It then leads to a situation where the Misfit realizes all the wrong actions that have been committed by the old woman without caring and blaming it on others. Her final acts of even calling the name Jesus as her faith father to help her show how much pain she feels and regret caused in her entire living.

The misfit and the grandmother at the end of the story creates an environment in which life is said to be different for both of them. In as much as there is a sense of death, no one can admire the woman’s life. She lives a life that does not even please her own family and later on she also regrets it. The misfit suffers for mistakes that he has not committed and remains active in finding out the real story regarding it. The two individuals do not come to agreement terms since the Misfit is ready even to take personal revenge. He does this by shooting her thrice through her chest and ordering his crime partners to take her away to a ditch (Gordon, 107). They all cannot save her because her behaviors are well known in the society and they are harmful. She does not deserve to enjoy life and in return tease the rest.

Through the Grandmother, nagging behavior of struggling to convince the Misfit leads to confessing that he is her own child. It meant that the Misfit was the son of the Grandmother (Bandy, 106). Before she dies through the act of compassion, she realizes that she is a sinner too who recollects her life and seeks forgiveness during the last moments of her life. She realizes this the moment she gets a delusion and finds out that she was selfish in life and even carried her cat everywhere rather than leaving it at home and spending time with family. She believes that the three men cannot kill them and she did not even realize that was where her death laid when she insisted that they detour what they had already planned to her benefit. Her son is defenseless and with so much pain at heart feels that he has made the right decision of ending her life.

The misfit has deeper meaning by saying that “she would have been a good woman … if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” That meant that a force could be applied every minute of her life to awaken her senses and ensure she realizes what she is supposed to do and how she is required to interact with different people (O’Connor, 189). After triggering her, it means that it creates a sense of humanity in her and eliminate all her evil ambitions that are to her favor. For the moment when she’s shot she even acts religious which is opposite to how she has lived her whole life. Misfit goes on to wish she lived such a good, but he later realizes nothing good comes from her. Her last moments should have been how she spent her entire life, but it is different. She would have been honest and cared for the others by thinking of their welfare and doing whatever pleases the people around her.

In conclusion, the end of the story is characterized by death of a self-centered grandmother and she is also to blame for the death of her entire family. Grandmother has lived a life that does not please even her own family since she keeps on causing trouble and harm. Misfit together with his criminal associates commit the act of ending her life trough shots by her son whom she recognizes later. Misfit even orders her to be dumped where the rest of the dead bodies had been dumped (Gordon, 87). The shots create in her a humble and compassionate life that turns her to remember to call upon her Creator Jesus. It creates a sense of remorsefulness.

Works cited

Bandy, Stephen C. “” One of my babies”: the misfit and the grandmother.” Studies in Short Fiction 33.1 (1996): 107.

Gordon, Sarah. Flannery O’Connor: The Obedient Imagination. University of Georgia Press, 2003.

O’Connor, Flannery. A good man is hard to find. New English Library, 1962.