As people we must first feel comfortable with all aspects of ourselves because if we don't someone or something will always be there to exploit our weaknesses. Situations are not always as they seem. Flannery O"Connor provides a glimpse of Christ-like redemption in her short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find". The theme of this story is based upon the meeting of the inevitable death and the judgment of sinners. The Grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is in need of salvation. This woman has a selfish outlook towards life. She often puts vanity before good sense. She starts her journey off wearing white gloves, white being a symbol of purity that all sinners have in the beginnings of life.
Grandmother idolizes material possessions. She dwells on material things in search of dignity and self-worth. It is her greed that lures her family into their downfall at the hands of the Misfit as she tells them a lie about family silver to get them off-track in their journey. The superficial items Grandmother longs to have, in the end, prove to be worthless. .
The Misfit, who wears a black hat, is not only personification of sin, but he also represents Christ. He, like Christ, has been punished for a crime he did not commit. He also makes judgments regarding the lives of the family. He has suffered the injustice of the world. The Misfit believes that he cannot change the unfairness that society has dealt him so he chooses to fulfill the image branded upon him. Therefore, he carries his own sins. He possesses no values, moral or social yet through his actions all values come into being. Early in the story, Grandmother foreshadows doom as she makes remarks the plantations are gone. As Grandmother realizes that her time of death is near, she begs and pleads with the Misfit. She tries to convince him that he is good, when in reality she tries to say he is as good as she is. .
Grandma exclaims, "I"ll give you all the money I got!" (Norton).