When she encounters the Misfit, the Grandmother says to him, "Listen, I know you"re a good man. You don't look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people," (391). How can she tell, simply by looking at him, that he doesn't have "common blood"? She bases everything on the superficial approach of appearances. Appearances are not everything. Just because someone does look like a good, decent person, doesn't mean that they in actuality are, and the same can be said for someone that looks a bit questionable in nature. Appearances are often times deceiving and serve as an unreliable bases for the assessment of one's true character. .
The Grandmother's entire way of thinking is completely different from what one would expect from a "true lady". All of her thoughts stem from frivolous, unimportant events and places, such as the beauty of the landscape, courting rituals during her childhood, mileage, the speed of the car, and scenic roadside attractions. "She said she thought it was going to be a good day for driving, neither too hot nor too cold, and she cautioned Bailey that the speed limit was fifty-five miles an hour and that the patrolmen hid themselves behind billboards and small clumps of trees and sped out after you before you had a chance to slow down. She pointed out interesting details of the scenery The children were reading comic magazines and their mother had gone back to sleep" (386). She rambles on as though the family cares about what she has to say, when in reality they probably don't even want her there. John Wesley suggests to his grandmother at one point, "If you don't want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?" She drones on and on during the car ride, telling stories about her youth that have probably been told so many different ways that she can't remember what really happened in the first place. She comes off as a frivolous, old woman, with nothing better to do than poke her nose into other people's lives and business.
