When the grandmother’s head clears for an instant (paragraph 136), whatdoes she suddenly understand?
What will be an ideal response?
- In the end, when we are told “her head cleared for an instant,” the grandmother becomes newly perceptive. She reveals—and offers to The Misfit—her vast, compassionate heart. When she declares, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children” (par. 136), she is not—as some students have suggested—recognizing The Misfit as a bastard son who she didn’t know existed; she here accepts responsibility for him “joined to him by ties of kinship which have their roots deeply in the mystery she has merely been prattling about so far” (O’Connor, “On Her Own Work”). We have no reason to doubt The Misfit’s shrewd remark, “She would of been a good woman . . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life” (par. 140), meaning that it took an act of violence to push her toward this moment of grace.
In O’Connor’s Catholic worldview, The Misfit has perhaps, ironically, actually done the grandmother a favor. She has been redeemed and is headed straight to heaven for her final Christ-like act of love the moment before she dies. She realizes that there is a chance that The Misfit will repent, and she reaches out to him lovingly, as though he were a child. By this time, she already knows that The Misfit’s gang has murdered her son and daughter-in-law and all the children. The Misfit may be a ruthless murderer, but that doesn’t prevent her from loving him and hoping for his redemption. Symbolically, in death the old woman’s body lies with legs crossed, a look of sweetness on her face. The Misfit, naturally, is glum, having just declined a chance for his own salvation.
You might also like to view...
(5) ____________
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
Combien d'exercice physique est-ce que Brigitte fait déjà?
A. Elle en fait le week-end. B. Elle en fait deux fois par semaine. C. Elle n'en fait pas. D. Elle en fait une demi-heure par semaine.
Listen to the passage once and choose the appropriate answer to the question. Then listen to the same passage again to double check your answer.
Who is Yu Laoshi’s new student?
A. Wang Dong B. Wang Xiaodong C. Wang Xiaofang
Fill in the letter of the word that best fits in each sentence. Use each letter only once
a. chronicle d. diminish g. implausible j. prolong b. compassion e. escapade h. lucrative k. spectator c. deactivate f. frank i. malformation l. substandard If we do not _____ the landmines, they might explode.