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She tries to even imply that he has the old southern class, and that people
misunderstand him. Every plead the grandmother makes, results in the Misfit
talking about different periods of his criminal career. He made sure to avoid
her pleas by bringing up topics that kept away from the situation. Nothing she
has said up until this point has affected him. The Misfit's terse responses to
the grandmother's recommendation of believing in Jesus reveals that these two
individuals are on two very different levels with concerns to religion. The
Misfit has a sacrilegious understanding of religion and his belief system than
does the grandmother. The grandmother knows her religion, but she has no
opinions on it. As the two continue in conversation, the Misfit asks the
grandmother if it seems right that Jesus was punished and escaped his
punishment. The grandmother responds in the only way she knows how to by
clinging to her superficial beliefs about good blood and behaving as a good
southern gentleman would. She has a limited understanding of religion and cannot
even begin to debate with the Misfit who by now has gone off on a rant about how
Jesus' raising of the dead threw the world off balance. Then the grandmother
observes the Misfit, as he was about to cry. The grandmother is alone, facing
the Misfit. Her head clears for an instant and she realizes, even in her limited
way, that she is responsible for the man before her. At this point, she reaches
out to him and remarks, Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own
children.” The Misfit, who is obviously affected, reared back and shot her three
times. The conversation between the grandmother and the Misfit gets the
grandmother to the point where she can see and accept the actions of her own
life. The grandmother is alone with the Misfit when her head clears and realizes
that she is accountable her family’s death. The Misfit gets her to the place
where she finally can be a good woman, as opposed to a lady. Therefore, she is
in turn making him in a sense a good man.
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