“Good Country People” is a short story written by Flannery O'Connor in the mid-1950s. The story is set on the farm in Georgia owned by Mrs. Hopewell. Flannery O'Connor uses the characters' names and personalities to symbolize that they are not really who they think they are. The protagonist Joy-Hulga has a heart problem and a wooden leg. His heat condition and disability reflect the fact that he is a broken and weak person inside. Mrs. Hopewell is Joy-Hulga's mother, she hopes very much that her daughter can do something in life, but Joy has other visions for herself. Mrs. Freeman works on the farm and her name symbolizes that she is more of a free spirit who tends to live in reality and is able to see exactly who Joy-Hulga and Mrs. Hopewell really are. In the story a young man named Manly Pointer comes to the farm and says he is a Bible salesman. Mrs. Hopewell assumes that they are good country people because they are respectful and Christian. Manley Pointer tells Mrs. Hopewell that he has a heart problem; at which point Mrs. Hopewell sympathizes with him because Joy-Hulga has the same condition (Flannery O'Connor). At first Joy-Hulga wants nothing to do with Manly Pointer because she is an atheist and he is Christian. They eventually form a connection because they both share the same condition and Manly Pointer tends to say all the right things to engage her. Hulga soon realizes that she is not who she thought she was when she comes face to face with evil. Manly Pointer is an evil young man and a direct reflection of who Hulga wanted to be. Hopewell was proud of her daughter Joy. Joy was supposed to be Mrs. Hopewell's happiness in life, but it didn't turn out quite as she expected. Everything Mrs. Hopewe... middle of paper... would be if she could smell their stupidity” (Flannery O'Connor). Apparently Joy-Hulga didn't know what she thought because she couldn't smell the stupidity that was everywhere on Manly Pointer, but instead she fell for it. When a person assumes they know everything there is to know, they are in a very vulnerable state. This is because they don't take the time to see what's really in front of them, but they assume what they think is correct at first. This is why Joy-Hulga found herself in the place she was. instead of truly valuing Manly Pointer, he thought he had the upper hand because he was a good guy. Evil may come in the form of a handsome face or a polite gentleman, but “you can't judge a book by its cover.” Before judging, it is best to take the time to get to know who a person really is. This could have saved Joy-Hulga from a harsh lesson; not always everything is as it seems.