A Good Man Is Hard To Find
I particularly liked this short story because of the plot and the characters, especially the grandmother and the Misfit. I found the plot to be very exciting and the way in which the story develops is well mapped out in my opinion. I really enjoyed reading it and found many possible spots for deeper analyzation and I think that this is the story I will write my final essay on.
1) "Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady."
This quote shows what type of woman the grandmother was and that she is very concerned with her appearance. It also foreshadows what is going to happen later on...
2) "She didn't intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentaly asphyxiate himself." AND "...and she cautioned Bailey that the speed limit was fifty-five miles an hour and that the patrolmen hid themselves behind billboards and small clumps of trees and sped out after you before you had a chance to slow down."
Shows how the grandmother is a very careful lady who likes to plan out everything but in the end it does not really do her any good. Suggests that you can only prepare for so much in life and that surprises are always bound to occur. Also the fact that she said the cat would miss her too much, rather than she would miss the cat too much, says something about how confident/arrogant the grandmother is.
3) She saw the man's face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, Why you're one of my babies. you're one of my children!" She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest. Tehn he put his gun down on the ground and took off his glasses and began to clean them."
Although the grandmother keeps stressing how she believes that people used to be better, more trustworthy and genuine, this passage shows that she is just as bad as the newer generations that she has been complaining about throughout the story. After the Misfit just killed all of her family, she is still trying to make nice with him and save her own life. Even a man as bad as a Misfit is surprised by how far she is willing to go to save her few remaining years and describes her reaching out to him as a snakebite.
The Trespasser
Out of all the stories we have read thus far, The Trespasser is probably the one that has stuck the most with me. I just feel that it is very powerful and although it is short, the lasting image that the daughter has in her dream is so powerful that I keep coming back to it.
1) The trespasser has been moving along the riverbank, crouching low, and now she comes upon a wooden rowboat belonging to a neighbor. She unties the rope, climbs in, and pushes off before she realizes she has no oars. The current catches the boat, and over the next several hours, she floats downstream. Sometimes the wind catches the boat and it spins.
The word choice here is very key because "crouching low" makes the trespasser seem very animalistic and not human. The fact that she has no oars shows the type of life the trespasser lives, one without any comfort whatsoever. She goes with the flow, wherever it takes her, and the fact that she ends up at a liquor store suggests that she will continue to find herself in very dark, dangerous places not suitable for a girl her age.
2) The dream that scares her awake over and over is the dream of entering a stranger’s bedroom–only it is her room–and encountering there her own body, waiting.
This image is so powerful and eery at the same time. I still do not fully understand the meaning behind it, but it shows how much of an impact the young girl who was hiding in their house had on the daughter. I feel as though in her dream, she is being forced to experience the horrors that the trespasser has dealt with her whole life.
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