Closed-Ended Question
- Why did Bobby Lee and Hiram take Bailey, the children, and the children's mother into the woods?
- They were murderers being hunted down, and they took them all into the woods to shoot them with their pistol and hide their bodies.
- Why did The Misfit believe Jesus "shown everything off balance", meaning the miracles he performed threw everything out of order?
- He refers to Jesus raising the dead, saying He shouldn't have done that, and then later says that if Jesus hadn't raised the dead, The Misfit wouldn't be the way he is now. What he means by that is, if he had been there to see Jesus perform the miracles that are written in The Bible, he wouldn't be questioning if raising the dead had actually happened, and he would be a strong believing Christian who wasn't the murderer he currently is. "If He did what He said, then it's nothing for you to do but throw away everything and follow Him, and if He didn't, then it's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him", meaning if the a person knew for certain the miracles were true, there would be no questioning of doing what was considered "right", but if a person does not know for sure the miracles actually occurred or not, what's to stop them from going out an sinning to any degree just like everyone else?
- Even though the short story was written in 1953, can it still be relevant in today's society?
- Yes, because murders still are committed in today's society, and they appear to get more and more drastic over time. Even though, at least very common, people don't murder in the same way The Misfit killed the family in the story, they still murder. People can murdered due to precise planning, or if they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, like the grandma and her family in "A Good Man is Hard To Find". The story could still take place even if it was written in the 21st century.
- Does religion have an impact on how a person makes decisions?
- Yes, because The Misfit said himself that if he had seen the miracles Jesus performed personally, and knew for a fact they were true, he wouldn't be the killer he is currently, and would have a different perception on life. "If I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn't be like I am now".
- Why does the writer choose to use the grammar and language featured in "A Good Man is Hard to Find"?
- O'Conner used the language style she did in this piece because it fits the time period, the southern dialect the characters would speak, and the dialect of where she was from: Georgia. The characters in the story have their own southern accent, and along with that accent, they have several words they say differently than what is grammatically correct, because of their pronunciation. O'Conner makes that apparent by writing the words the characters say to show how they pronounce the words.
why is it important for us to notice the words that The Misfit and his gang use are a bit off? what does that say about the story and about what we need to notice about the characters? "if the a person knew for certain the miracles were true, there would be no questioning of doing what was considered "right" is this why 'The Misfit' does what he does? what does o'connor want us to think about Jesus and being saved. thank-you for posing such interesting and thoughtful questions.
ReplyDeleteIt shows The Misfit and his gang didn't necessarily have a good education, and that it wasn't a priority to them. They didn't kill because they liked it. They kill because they believed all sins were equal. A man stealing a loaf of bread is equal to killing a man, even if the punishment's intensities vary. The Bible even says, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for it all" (James 2:10). O'Conner wants us to realize that, as well. Being saved is about obeying all the laws Jesus states. Lying is a sin. Adultery is a sin. Murder is a sin. No sin is greater than the other in His eyes. You can't pick and choose what laws to follow.
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