Joy/Hulga vs. Mr Pointer

349 Words2 Pages
Destiny Simmons Joy/Hulga vs. Mr. Pointer The short story that I have chosen is titled “Good Country People” by Flannery O'Connor. The story is about a thirty-two year old woman named Joy, who is atheist. When she was a little girl, her leg was shot off in shooting accident. Ever since it happened, Joy has been depressed. She even changed her name to Hulga because it was the ugliest name she could think of. One day, a bible salesman, Manley Pointer, comes to her house and her mother invites him to stay for dinner. While Manley is at dinner, he becomes fascinated with Hulga. Manley asks Hulga if they could go on a picnic the following day. That night, Hulga imagined that she seduced Manley. Hulga thought that she could enlighten Manley and show him a deeper understanding of life besides the bible. Hulga believes that Manley is interested in her, but he is really interested in her wooden leg. The main conflict in the story arrives while Hulga and Manley are at the barn. Manley starts asking Hulga questions about her wooden leg, like how she takes it off and puts it back on. At first, Hulga doesn't want to take her leg off but Mr. Pointer tells Hulga that her leg makes her different and Hulga eventually shows him how to take off her leg. Manley then takes off Hulga's wooden leg and puts in in the briefcase where he keeps the bibles that he sells. When he opens his briefcase, Hulga realizes that Manley is not the good christian man that she thought he was. One of the bibles in his briefcase was carved out in the middle and in it was a flask and some condoms. Manley steals Hulga's wooden leg and leaves her stranded in the barn. Hulga's intellect failed her in this story. She believed that her intellect allowed her to accurately judge people, but she was wrong. Based on the ending of the story, we can assume that Hulga's self-knowledge and her view on life have
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