The Misfit, referring to the criminal that escaped, may have more meaning in the story than just describing him. Hearing all the things the children say and do, sounds to me that they may be misfits as well. What children speak like that to their parents and grandparents? Additionally, what kind of parents let their kids run their lives and be in control of them instead of the other way around. I feel that the entire story is about misfits and their difficulties.
I also think that the ending about them all being killed is no surprise. Think of it this way, if the criminal would have allowed them to walk away, they would have called in the authorities and he would have been found or killed. How would this make any sense?
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I agree with you on the way children behave and act but I think that it’s not them controlling the parents but the Grandmother. She is the one who always seems in control and makes herself a priority. I also think that maybe if the grandmother didn’t recognize Misfit out loud he would have them walk away.
I agree with you both the kids and the grandmother were so disrespectful. The grandmother showed no remorse and shame for what she had just started. Her concern was herself and no one else.
I think you're right about "Misfit" being ambiguous, here--is it the reverse of what we think? The criminal claims to be the "misfit"--but what is it that doesn't "fit" in the story? Could this partly be about world views that don't quite fit realities? What happens when different worlds collide? To a great extent, this is a story about values and world views--belief systems that sustain us, and how those may often be illusons--if not self-delusionary. Consider the grandmother as representing a kind of (deep South inflected)world view, and how that world view--what allows her to make sense of the world--is brutally ripped away--what's left? Consider some of the imagery toward the end of the story--description of the sky, what she sees as she looks up for the last time. Other image patterns in the story--such as red dust (characteristic of the Gerogia landscape), would also be worth pursuing...
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