OMG, WTF JUST HAPPENED? (Slaughter of the Innocent)

I think what shocked me the most about this story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, was the innocence of the narrator. The narrator portrayed this happy-go-lucky family trip. It was an interesting story in itself, but when the criminals showed up at the end all hell broke loose and it really caught me off guard. I couldn’t believe this cheery little story of a family trip had turned into a car wreck followed by vulture-like criminals killing the entire family off two-by-two. What made it even more surreal was how calm all the characters were about it. The man merely sits around chatting with the grandmother as he has his men execute the rest of the family. I almost didn’t believe that they were going off to die, even though I knew for sure that that was the only reason they could be going to the woods.
I think this story would not have been as good without the feigned innocence. The narrator foreshadowed the criminal showing up by having the grandmother use it as a reason for not going into the area, but it seemed such an insane occurrence that I never even considered it an option. Had the author given more hints as to what was going to happen, it would not have been such a surprise to me. Also, if the Misfit had not had a complete air of nonchalance toward what was going on, it really would not have been so shocking and surreal.