A Comparison Of Good Country People And Enoch And The Gorilla

The Catholic writer, Flannery O’Connor, has compiled two short fictional stories that share a similar view point into the hidden evils of life. These stories use characters, events, and objects to portray this idea. The two stories take an identical route to display that evil is concealed in the world, even in some of the purest things. These stories use characters, events, and objects to portray this idea. The stories she has written to support her argument are Good Country People and Enoch and the Gorilla
Enoch and the Gorilla is a story about a man who steals a gorilla costume in order to pursue another identity. O’Connor bases this story around the theme of evil being concealed within an object. Enoch and the Gorilla begins with Enoch

going to mock the man in the gorilla suit. When Enoch gets there the man in the costume gets irritated with him and says, “Go to hell” (111). When Enoch hears this it causes a radical shift in his character and he becomes enraged and runs away. This serves as an excellent example of evil being concealed in an object. The man in the gorilla suit can be viewed as the devil. The devils greatest trick is deceiving people and appearing as something he is not. In this case the devil appears as the man within the gorilla suit. Another example of a hidden evil within the story is concealed with in the title. The name Enoch comes from Genesis 4:17. Genesis 4:17 says, “Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.” By naming the protagonist Enoch, O’Connor is referring to a great evil. She is showing that the greatest evil in the story was hidden in man himself. O’Connor ends her story with a line that reads, “It sat down on the rock where they had been sitting and stared over the valley at the uneven skyline of the city” (116). The “it” O’Connor is referring to is evil, the evil that was concealed in Enoch. O’Connor makes a vast amount of other connections to her overall theme of hidden evil.
In her story, Good Country People, O’Connor again writes about the idea of concealed evil.

The story is about a woman named Hulga who gets deceived by a bible salesman. The sales man comes to the door and asks Mrs. Freeman if anyone would like to buy a Bible. Her initial response is, “May daughter is an atheist and won’t let me keep the Bible in the parlor” (278), so she does not buy the Bible. The salesman does not get any business from them but he manages to get a date with Hulga. At this point in the story O’Connor begins to firmly develop the idea of evil being concealed. The two go to a barn where Hulga thinks it will be romantic and genuinely nice. However, the idea she put in her head ends up the opposite. When they get there the salesman takes out a hollow Bible that contains items that are evil. Inside are booze, cards, and condoms. O’Connor uses this as an example of concealed evil because the Bible is revered as a holy book and inside was a hidden evil. Another example of evil within this story is when the salesman takes Hulga’s leg. While the two are talking he brings up her wooden leg and says, “Show me how to take it off and on” (289). Hulga feels like she has to submit to his command and shows him. After he takes her leg off and does not give it back. Hulga’s leg was the only thing that kept her standing, and can also be viewed as her soul. The salesman literally took Hulga’s soul out of the evil in his heart. O’Connor’s point in this scene is that even the

people that appear morally good on the outside can be morally wrong on the inside. Overall, her message is that evil can be concealed in anything.
In conclusion, O’Connor’s stories are written with the same intention and moral lesson. They both convey the idea of evil being concealed within anything. O’Connor does a stellar job supporting her points which makes these stories interesting. Overall, they were insightful and had a deeper meaning that is relevant within today’s society.