A Good Man Is Hard To Find

            The story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is about a grandmother who’s big mouth ends up causing herself and her family to be murdered. The story starts off with the family getting ready to go on a trip to Florida. Grandmother doesn’t want to go. She uses the excuse that the Misfit has escaped prison and will be loose in that area. The family ignores Grandmother. On the way to Florida, Grandmother talks nonstop, which annoys the family. Grandmother starts to talk about an old house with a secret panel that was close to where they were at. The children beg their father, Bailey, to take them there. On the way to the house that actually doesn’t exist, Grandmother’s cat escapes from her purse. The cat causes Bailey to wreck the car. The family flags down a car and the Misfit comes to the “rescue.” Instead of helping the family, he murders them. The last one to be killed is Grandmother. Everyone else in the family realizes and accepts that they are about to die. Grandmother doesn’t accept it and tries to convince the Misfit that he is a good man. Her pleading doesn’t work because he kills her.

Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

            The story called “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” is a very interesting story. The story has a lot of meaning that may not be noticed at first glance. The main character is Native American. He left the reservation to try and live like a white person. No one in his reservation ever leaves. When he left his reservation, he became an outsider to his people. When he was in Seattle, he realized he was an outsider there also because he wasn’t white. In the end, he doesn’t fit in anywhere. Whenever he mentions talking to someone white, he makes it sound like they are superior to him just because of their skin color. The title of the story shows that he is Tonto because he is Native American, but he is also the Lone Ranger because he wants to be white. He is fighting with himself because he is lost inside. The reason that the title says a fistfight in heaven can mean that even in a place that is supposed to be peaceful, he cannot peace inside of himself. The main character wants to escape from the stereotypical idea of Native Americans, but by the way he acts at the end of the story, he won’t escape it.