The Symbol of Christianity

Joy is educated and Mrs. Hopewell and those virtu solelyy her argon not. Joy startles her mother at wizard hitch by exclaiming, "Woman! do you ever look inner? Do you ever look inside and instruct what you ar not? God!" (O'Connor 1976, 176). In another O'Connor story, Everything That Rises Must Converge, we see a similar relationship between Julian and his mother. Julian has received an education in venom of his mother, "In spite of growing up dominated by a teentsy mind, he had ended up with a large one; in spite of her foolish views, he was free of prepossession and unafraid to face facts" (O'Connor 1971, 409).

Being educated and philosophical makes Joy, who calls herself "Hulga", turn over she sees through the fatade of things to the "nothing" underneath. She believes herself to be better than those around her who are uneducated or who rely on faith and Christianity as their source of knowledge. Paige (1997) maintains that in O'Conner's stories "life without Christianity and the presence of God becomes a life without means and direction" (327). Despite Joy's views of religion and Mrs. Hopewell's abominate of her atheism, Mrs. Hopewell keeps her Bible locked in the attic. When Manley Pointer comes to sell her a Bible, he tells her, upon noticing she has no Bible in the parlor, "Lady, the word of God ought to be in the parlor" (O'Connor 1976, 178).

Mrs. Hopewell takes a liking to Manley Pointer, believing he is a practiced hoidenish person. When he discloses

Susan Edmunds (1996) maintains that Christian principles and beliefs inform all of O'Connor's writing and acts as an "evaluation of modern society" (559). Ironically, the most morally profane character in the story, Manley Pointer, has the greatest spiritual vision on the surface. He informs Mrs. Hopewell that he does not sell Bibles because of the money just because he wants to spread the Good Word of God. He insists he wishes to devote his life to missionary work to help as many people as possible. However, once Hulga lets herself become undefendable in the barn, we see the true Manley behind the spiritual fatade. He pulls a flask of whiskey, a box of condoms and a take aback of cards out of his Bible case. Shocked, Hulga stammers, "Aren't you?

aren't you just good country people?" (O'Connor 1976, 194). Pointer's reply shows he has nothing but despite for good country people, "Yeah, but it ain't held me back none. I'm as good as you any day in a workweek" (O'Connor 1976, 194). Manley has exposed Hulga's vulnerability and also the fact that he has patronage for good country people, viewing them as ignorant.

In O'Connor's stories, real number judgement often comes at the point of injury or end. This might be because of the fact that one certainty in the world is that human beings vulnerability and death judge all humans as equal. Morrow Paulson (1988) contends of one type of O'Connor character, "only death teaches the individual defined by desire the true meaning of the word goodness" (218). Likewise, in Good Country People, human vulnerability teaches Hulga the true meaning of goodness. She and Manley go off on an alleged picnic, one that Hulga imagined the day prior would lead to her subjection of him. They travel to the barn and begin to make out, but Manley insists Hulga tells him he loves her. He will not accept no for an serve and further insists she show him her wooden leg and how to put it on and off. Manley tells Hulga she is making a "sucker" out of him when sh
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