Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” contains several short stories each containing their own morals. Two of these stories are “The Life You Save May Be Your Own" and "Good Country People", both of these stories take place in the South and revolve around a seemingly innocent man who ends up taking advantage of a young woman. In “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, a man wanders to the house of an elderly woman willing to help out for no pay, and eventually is married to her daughter who he leaves stranded but only after taking some of the family 's possessions. “In "Good Country People", a man appears at a house uninvited with the intention of selling bibles, after connecting with the mother, he is introduced to the daughter who
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Pointer appears at the house of an older mother known as Mrs. Hopewell with the intention of selling bibles. Mrs. Hopewell lives with her daughter Joy (Hulga) as well as the Freemans, a family hired to do work around the house. Although she has no intention of purchasing a bible, Mrs. Hopewell continues to entertain the salesman who she believes is pure. She proceeds to invite him to dinner and says, “Good country people are the salt of the earth!” (O’Connor, 188) Hulga however, has an immediate dislike of this man, being a philosopher and atheist herself, she doesn’t see much in him and says to her mother, “Get rid of the salt of the earth, and let’s eat” (O’Connor, 188) Mrs. Hopewell also views this stranger as a potential suitor to her daughter, especially after learning that he had the same heart condition that her daughter had that would warrant them a shorter …show more content…
They are freely able to take whatever it is they want from the women, not caring about their humanity or they danger they have put them in. Lucynell from “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” is now left asleep and stranded at a restaurant far away from home, having being described as a hitchhiker with no car or money and to make matters worst, she is also a deaf-mute. Hulga from "Good Country People" is left in a loft without her prosthetic leg which allows her to walk and has ultimately left her stranded in this loft which is desolate and too far away from her home for her to call out for help. Thus proving that men in the South who show up at your doorstep uninvited and seem to be polite and “good country people” are not to be trusted, as they have an ulterior
Pointer appears at the house of an older mother known as Mrs. Hopewell with the intention of selling bibles. Mrs. Hopewell lives with her daughter Joy (Hulga) as well as the Freemans, a family hired to do work around the house. Although she has no intention of purchasing a bible, Mrs. Hopewell continues to entertain the salesman who she believes is pure. She proceeds to invite him to dinner and says, “Good country people are the salt of the earth!” (O’Connor, 188) Hulga however, has an immediate dislike of this man, being a philosopher and atheist herself, she doesn’t see much in him and says to her mother, “Get rid of the salt of the earth, and let’s eat” (O’Connor, 188) Mrs. Hopewell also views this stranger as a potential suitor to her daughter, especially after learning that he had the same heart condition that her daughter had that would warrant them a shorter …show more content…
They are freely able to take whatever it is they want from the women, not caring about their humanity or they danger they have put them in. Lucynell from “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” is now left asleep and stranded at a restaurant far away from home, having being described as a hitchhiker with no car or money and to make matters worst, she is also a deaf-mute. Hulga from "Good Country People" is left in a loft without her prosthetic leg which allows her to walk and has ultimately left her stranded in this loft which is desolate and too far away from her home for her to call out for help. Thus proving that men in the South who show up at your doorstep uninvited and seem to be polite and “good country people” are not to be trusted, as they have an ulterior