"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

EEEEk! Not just your average family vacation!

O'Connor gives the reader a family that is a group of fun, wacky people...much like many of our own families. They start out at home and have plans for a road trip to Florida. Grandmother complains about it, she wants to go to Tennessee! But, the next morning she's the first one in the car. They travel....they bicker....they stop and eat...they travel some more. Then, they take a "side trip" at the suggestion of Grandmother and they end up dead...all of them! Shot by some "misfits" the grandmother had read about in the newspaper before they even left for their road trip. This story was rich with descriptions...and the characters had realistic personalities. The reserved husband, the wife that wanted to dance, the vociferous little girl and the active boy. Geez, they all get blown away....
I was astounded. I kept thinking, "no"...they are alive, right?
What a great story...and terrible, too.

I assumed that Flannery was a man...I guess it just sounded like an Irish male name.
I think the line in the story that says so much is:
"She would have been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
Really? Misfit? Yes, Misfit! Like it's up to him who lives and who dies. As if one person has the right to take an other's life. It was almost like the Misfit saw it as his function on Earth, to randomly kill and have no remorse. His name was always capitalized "The Misfit", like he was God. Or, the hand of God. Was it God, taking the family to heaven? Did the Grandmother know what waited for them on the side road? And, was it part of God's plan all along? I guess they (whoever they are) say that everyone has a time to go and you can't mess with the master plan.
Chilling, really, to think that a random act or change of plans can bring about such dire results.
I think I'll stay on main roads from here on out, just in case The Misfit is awaiting!