Things are Not Always as They Seem with Good Country People

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Recommended: Irony and Characterization in O'Connor's Good Country People

Things are Not Always as They Seem with Good Country People

"Why that looks like the nice dull young man that tried to sell me a Bible

yesterday," Mrs. Hopewell said, squinting. "He must of been trying to sell them to the

Negros back in there. He was so simple," she said, "but I guess the world would be better

off if we were all that simple" (145). At the end of the story, Mrs. Hopewell considers

Manley Pointer "simple." Little did she know that this "simple" man had just caused Hulga

severe mental and physical anguish. Her ignorance towards the underlying evil in the

world turns out to be her greatest fault. Situations are not always as they seem, and unless

one first looks within, his or her weaknesses may be exploited through evil doings. In

Flannery O'Connor's short story, "Good Country People," irony is seen throughout the

story relating as the contradiction between what is thought to be a good country person

and what really turns out to be evil.

There are several examples of irony in O'Connor's short story. Several people, as

well as objects, in this story...

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