In this text, "The Misfit", by Flannery O'Connor, we meet a presumably normal American family. They come from a wealthy and safe neighborhood without an especially high criminality. So when they hear about an escaped murderer headed towards the state they are traveling to, they get worried.
             I think it is obvious that the theme in this text is violence. The Misfit, as he calls himself, uses violence as a kind of authority. By doing that he gets both control and respect. I would not say it is the right kind of respect, but people fear him and do as he tells them to do, and that is what he wants. It has probably not been possible for him to gain respect in any other way, because he is a misfit, a person who people used to look down at. But since he has begun to use violence as supremacy, people do not look down at him any more. In stead, they fear and obey him. He has experienced a seizure of power which he cannot do without. Being violent is the only thing that amuses him in a kind of sadistic manner. (Line 136: ...it's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can – by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him.)
             In the story we meet the grandmother who is very nervous about meeting The Misfit. She has read about him in the newspaper and she does not want her family to go anywhere near a criminal like him. This is an excellent example of how much respect The Misfit gets by being violent; He can cause a whole family in a different state to consider revising their holidays because of him. And that really gratifies him. (Line 101: "You're The Misfit!" she said. "I recognized you at once!" –"Yes'm," the man said, smiling slightly as if he were pleased in spite of himself to be known.)
             Though the grandmother has a great fear of him, she does not seem to be particularly frightened when
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