What is the Significance of "The Misfit" in A Good Man is Hard to Find"?

The Misfit is a serial killer, who has escaped from the Federal Penitentiary. The Grandmother reads about him in the newspaper as the story begins, and later he murders her after his sidekicks, Hiram and Bobby Lee, have murdered Bailey and his family. He tells The Grandmother that he has been a gospel singer, in the armed service, twice married, and undertaker, and a railroad worker. "His hair was just beginning to gray and he wore silver-rimmed spectacles that gave him a scholarly look. He had a long creased face."

Grace, an important theme to O'Connor, is given to both The Grandmother and The Misfit, neither of whom is particularly deserving. As she realizes what is happening, The Grandmother begins to beg The Misfit to pray so that Jesus will help him. Right before The Misfit kills her, The Grandmother calls him one of her own children, recognizing him as a fellow human capable of being saved by God's Grace. Even though he murders her, the Misfit is implied to have achieved some level of Grace as well when he ends the story by saying, "It's no real pleasure in life." Earlier in the story, he claimed the only pleasure in life was meanness.