The protagonists in Flannery O'Connor's short stories "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" both struggle with their relationship with God. However, the Misfit in the first story has decided that God--specifically Jesus--does not exist, and he acts accordingly, doing as much damage to others as he can manage. Mr. Shiftlet, on the other hand, clearly does believe in God, although he acts against that belief and lives according to selfish principles. Both men, believing or not, are torn by their awareness of the damage they do and of the general misery of their existence.
The Misfit is more self-aware than Mr. Shiftlet because the Misfit is at least true to his belief, or lack of belief. He believes only what he can see, and because he did not personally see Jesus raise the dead and perform other miracles, he cannot believe in Jesus. He is angry at this fact: "It ain't right I wasn't there because if I had of been there I would have known
. . . and I wouldn't be like I am now" ("Good" 2157). He is true to his lack of belief, concluding that to not believe leaves a man with only one option in life:
If [Jesus] didn't [raise the dead], then it's nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can--by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness ("Good" 2157).
In other words, the Misfit bases reality on whether one believes in Jesus or not. That belief, he says, can only be based on personally witnessing Jesus performing miracles. Because that is impossible for him, he cannot believe. He feels that the world is Godless, and the violence he brings to others is at least aligned to that belief. Despite his discussion with the grandmother, the Misfit is essentially unchanging from the beginning to the end of his story. After he has his cronies murder the entire family in cold blood, shooting the grandmother hims...