I will attach 2 pages - Essay Example

However, her son Bailey has already decided firmly to travel to Florida. On the other hand, the grandmother tries to persuade her son, in whatever sort of persuasion available, to change course. She made two arguments why they should go to Tennessee: first, the evil Misfit and his gang are headed toward Florida; and second, the children need to broaden their world by going to Tennessee since they haven’t gone there before. Evidently, the two arguments are contradictory; thus, the old woman deliberately lies to her family for the selfish reason of wanting to go to Tennessee.

She could have been a good woman -- i.e., honest and truthful -- if there is just someone who will “shoot her.” On the road towards Florida, the grandmother keeps on talking about the good-old-days. For instance, she speaks of an old term which refers to an African American boy: pickaninny -- such term means “little” or “small.” The way the grandmother utters the word “pickaninny,” however, sounds like she is mocking the “little Negro.” Indeed, that was the olden time when black slavery or the pickaninny was popular among the white American race.

Furthermore, the grandmother only tells stories of the past that greatly benefits her. When her grandchildren laugh at her, the grandmother reacts against their behavior by saying that “children were more respectful [in the past]” (O’Connor 231). A manipulative old woman, she could have been good to other people, especially the young ones, if somebody “shoot[s] her.” During the pit-stop, the old lady talks to the owner of The Tower, Red Sam; unsurprisingly, they considerably discuss about the “better times” (O-Conner 234).

The grandmother appears to agree to Red Sam’s observation, that good men are hard to find these days. The Tower owner tells the old woman about the better times when people could go out without even locking their house’s door; nowadays, he adds up, no one can be trusted anymore. Here, the grandmother’s view of the world in general and men in particular is subtly revealed. She considers the present-day people as inherently evil. As we shall see, however, the old lady’s perception towards men as evil dramatically changes; she could have been good -- i.e., possessing positive outlook in life and the world -- if someone “shoot[s] her.

” Before the accident, the old woman tells her grandchildren about a house in Georgia that has a secret panel. The main motive of the old lady why she mentions this secret panel is to convince her grandchildren to go to Georgia. In the succeeding incident, however, it becomes clear that the house “she had remembered so vividly” was in Tennessee after all. In the ditch after the accident, the grandmother keeps to herself about her deliberate deception to Bailey and others. And in order to avoid Bailey’s anger due to the grandmother’s cat that primarily cause the accident, the old lady has hoped that “she was injured” (O’Connor 236).

Again, one observes that the old woman keeps on looking for ways, whatever they are, in order to save her butt, so to speak. The grandmother’s manipulative character could have been altered if there is just somebody who will “shoot her.” When the Misfit and his gang arrived in the scene, the old lady speaks of lie again.