Hopewell and her daughter Hulga. Manley Pointer uses well taught manners such as when he first met Mrs. Hopewell; he greeted her with, “Good morning Mrs. Cedars!” (O’Conner 3). He also was described as a good looking man when it said, “He was not a bad looking man” and said he had “prominent face bones” (O’Conner 3). Mrs. Hopewell even pointed out his pleasant laugh and sparkling eyes. Mr. Pointer sure was a deceiving man by the way he carried himself to fool the Hopewell’s into his trap. He was one to butter up and that’s what he did to get invited to their dinner. Where he would meet his mission, Hulga Hopewell. Hulga, also known as Joy, was a 32 year old, large blonde lady that had a prosthetic leg that Manley pointer was going for. Little did Hulga know, she was going to get her leg stolen by Manley Pointer, the devious Bible …show more content…
Manley Pointer wanted her to be comfortable with him so he could get the leg easier. The two of them climbed up into a “large two-story barn” (O’Conner 7) to get comfortable in the night and this would be the perfect time for the nice boy to steal her leg. O’Conner uses foreshadowing of her leg being stolen by the boy when she has Manley say, “Show me where your wooden leg joins on” (O’Conner 8). While they were sitting in the barn loft the boy started to show the not so sweet side of himself. He started to make his move to steal the prosthetic leg by pulling out one of the bibles from his suitcase. He opened the bible and sure enough it did not contain any pages, but drugs, whiskey, and a pack of cards. He was going to try to get her drunk or high then take her leg. Showing now brightly is the real side of this boy. He wasn’t even a Christian, was a thief, liar, and jerk which is the exact opposite of how he acted for Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga. This situation with the boy and Hulga is a great example of the theme; things aren’t always what they may seem. Flannery O’Conner illustrates the theme for us through the bible seller by making him seem like such a handsome, nice, well mannered boy at the beginning, but then really on the inside this boy is a jerk, thief, and