Themes

The Elusive Definition of a “Good Man”

The grandmother is applicable the label “good” indiscriminately, blurring the meaning of a man” that is“good the label loses its meaning totally. She first is applicable it to Red Sammy after he angrily complains of this untrustworthiness that is general of. He asks her why he allow two strangers charge their gasoline—he’s obviously been swindled—and the grandmother says he made it happen because he’s “a good man.” In cases like this, her concept of “good” appears to consist of gullibility, bad judgment, and blind faith, none of that are inherently “good.” She next is applicable the label “good” to the Misfit. After she acknowledges him, she asks him whether he’d shoot a lady, although he never ever claims which he wouldn’t. Because being a girl is such a substantial element of exactly what the grandmother considers ethical, the Misfit’s solution demonstrates as she does that he doesn’t adhere to the same moral code. The grandmother desperately calls him a good guy, as if appealing to some sort of underlying value that the Misfit wouldn’t desire to reject. Her concept of “good,” nevertheless, is skewed, resting nearly entirely on her behalf declare that he doesn’t have actually “common bloodstream.”

The grandmother’s wanton application of this label “good man” reveals that “good” does not indicate “moral” or “kind.” A man is a “good man” if his values are aligned with her own for the grandmother. Continue reading →