Misfit

MISFIT

A misfit is a person, whose behaviour or attitude sets him/her apart from others in an uncomfortably conspicuous way. This description of a misfit suits the main person of The Misfit very well, but this characterization of the person is rather soft and not completely expressive based on his actions. He is an extreme case of being a misfit, which is shown through the behaviour towards the family and lastly the killings. He is a merciless killer with a cold heart, who does not even consider his actions before putting an end to others’ lives. This brutal ending of the story gives an example of how terribly things can develop in the modern world, and how difficult it is to protect oneself and the people that surround you against misfits, who do not know how to act in a society.

A misfit is not necessarily a male person, but in all the texts they are men, and therefore is it reliable to ascertain that the texts deal with male decay and the consequences of it.

The story The Misfit delineates the trip of a family consisting of a mother, father, children and a grandmother on their way to Florida. The grandmother has a bad feeling about it, because there is a criminal, The Misfit, who has escaped from prison heading for Florida as well, and therefore she is scared and fears for their lives. But nonetheless she is the first one in car the next day, when they are going to visit Florida. Unfortunately they have a car accident, and after getting out of the car and recovering from the shock and experience they get killed by The Misfit, who has seen it all with his two companions.

The situation and the meeting between The Misfit and the family consists of many opposites, and that is probably also what the author wants the reader to realize and think about. One of the most obvious opposites is the meeting between The Misfit/abnormality and the family/normality. Even though “normality” is difficult, if not impossible, to define, the statement is true to a great extent - the abnormality based on killing people, and normality based on not killing other people!

The result of the meeting is the death of the whole family, and the reason why it gets so far, is that The Misfit cannot handle the confrontation with the normal society represented by the family and the religion, which seems to be one of the great support points of the grandmother. Both society and religion have probably let him down, and it has been impossible for him to find any help or support in these two things. The story takes place in the South, where almost everybody is religious Christians, and therefore it is quite thought provoking that he is not religious. Hence the conclusion that he indeed has been let down by the religion and/or the society. He is probably filled with frustration and stress, and the meeting and also the grandmother’s recognition of him get him to burst out in anger and shoot.

So, an important aspect of the text is society’s turning its back on somebody. This