's 1955
story, "," can be considered slightly ahead of its time for the cynicism andimplied by
its title and by its portrayal of the characters Mrs Hopewell and Manley Pointer. A devoutly
Christian woman and her educated, atheist, physically disabled daughter, Joy, welcomes the
Bible-carrying Manley into her and Joy's life. Impressed by this "Christian" Bible
salesman, Mrs. Hopewell refers to him as "good country people," unaware of Manley's
true nature. That true nature is revealed when, at a picnic with Joy, who harbors plans of
seducing the presumably virginal Bible salesman, Manley removes from his hollowed-out Bible
condemns, whiskey and sexually-explicit photographs.
[There] were only two Bibles in it. He took one of these out and opened the cover of
it. It was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey, a pack of cards, and a small blue
box with printing on it. He laid these out in front of her....
The Freeman daughters who live nearby, and whose mother is a tenant farmer, are
similarly questionable representatives of the meaning of the phrase used as the story's title.
The younger one is a pregnant teenager and the older daughter known for her friendliness with
individuals of the other gender. Clearly, the mythical world in which Mrs. Hopewell prefers to
exist is not present in her reality.
The use of the phrase and title
"Good Country People" is clearly intended to be ironic, in that the more saintly
character turns out to be anything but -- a recurring theme in O'Connor's
work.
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