O'connor vs. Beaver

I must admit, that when I think of the 1950s, I can't help but imagine the world that is portrayed by the sitcoms 'Leave it to Beaver,' 'Green Acres,' 'I Dream of Jeanie,' and heck, even 'The Sandlot,'and 'Back to the Future.' I'm sure that I can't be the only one who believes that these fantasies were somewhat true. Of course, the time period can't fit the perfect cookie cutter that these shows provide, but it's nice to hope that things could have actually been good in America. I think I mentioned in class that the false world of the 'perfect stay-at-home mother, wise father, obedient children, and general innocense of society' was not shaped mereley by these programs, rather, by people in general. There's always the saying that "things aren't as good as the old days." I've been hearing this all my life. "It's so dangerous to go out these days...it was simpler back then...safer." The list could go on. This preconcieved notion that things WERE better had me reading the book from a different perspective, and I suppose this had me looking at the Grandmother in different light. I didn't see her as the false person that seemingly everyone else in the class did. She was definitely flawed, made mistakes, etc., but I didn't see these mistakes as so far removed from reality. I didn't end up hating her in the end, but feeling that she could have been so much more had she lived the life given to her a bit more wisely. It seemed as if she made the wrong decisions at the wrong time (i.e. taking them in the direction of the misfit), and the events just unfolded around her in a way that was definitely unbeneficial for the family.
In addition to comparing the story to the time period in which it was written, I feel it's important to mention that I read it as if it were in a time period EXITING the ideal 50s. I saw the grandmother as the person wishing to go back to 'the good old days.' Perhaps I made a mistake here, and this is why I was so soft on her, and didn't think she was full of crap. It wasn't until class that I realized this story was supposed to destroy the cookie cutter that I grew so accustomed to. Perhaps I may be a hopeless optimist, but for some reason I tend to constantly remind myself that O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' is ALSO a fantasy...and that these events don't exactly happen every day.
As far as what I got out of the story as a whole...we were discussing allegory the other day, and to be honest, I had one of those experiences where you've heard the word so many times before, and you assume you know what it means through extrapolation, but in the end you don't know jack. I went home to look the word up again and found that it is pretty much an aesop fable...a story with a moral. This story is nothing short of a violent aesop fable. I was reminded that O'Connor was a devout Catholic, and made it a point to keep this in mind when reading the story again. When I came across the 2nd to last line of the Misfit, where he comments that she would have been a good woman had she been exposed to danger every step of the way, I can't help but think about O'Connor's Christianity. In no way do I see a resemblance of Jesus in the Misfit, mind you (I suppose I just can't see Jesus talking about being evil, then offing gramma and 'doing her a favor.') However, the revelation did occur to me that perhaps O'Connor is calling into action for other Christians to be genuine. What I know about most people who claim to be of certain faiths is that they aren't practicing, and it doesn't mean anything more to them than just a title. I feel that O'Connor is telling Christians out there to live as if every minute is their last, and to make Jesus a bit more important than a last resort, or perhaps a mask to put on when the time seems right.
In the end, I genuinly enjoyed this story, and found no huge flaws in it...hmm...perhaps the children could have been less annoying...but then again is that me hoping for the cookie cutter again?