Pride In Good Country People By Manley Pointer

Lust, gluttony, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, and worst of all pride. All seven of the deadly sins that haunt us daily, and will always be a part of mankind. Pride is the deadliest sin for it manifest in the other six. “Good County People” is a great example of pride because as joy develops throughout the story to evenly became Hulga, and get tricked by Manley Pointer. Hulga’s pride blinds her long enough to lose sight of which she claims to live and abide by, reality.
In the beginning of the story we are told that Joy is Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter, and she has an artificial leg. Joy is highly educated she is also quite bitter. Joy first revels her utter rudeness when she calls Mrs Freeman’s Daughters Glynese and Carramane, Glycerin and Caramel.

When Joy turned twenty-one she changed her name to Hulga “She had arrived at it first purely on the basis of its ugly sound and then the full genius of its fitness had struck her.” (O’Connor) Hulga is cynical to her core. “One of her major triumphs was that her mother had not been able to turn her dust into Joy, but the greater one was that she had been able to turn it herself into Hulga.” (O’Connor) O’connar demonstrates joy’s internal acrimony by detailing how she goes out of her way to rebel against her mother.
Along with Hulga’s innate disbelief, pride is the other contributing factor leading to her downfall. Hulga’s pride stems from her Ph.D; her own mother can see that this is what started her decent into nihilism. “She could not help but feel that it would have been better if the child had not taken the Ph.D” (O’Connor) Hulga’s Ph.D is in philosophy. This distanced Hulga form her mother because she could not take the same pride in Hula’s education as her. Mrs. Hopewell viewed it as dated “something that had ended with the Greeks and Romans.” (O’Connor)
Manley Pointer enters the story attempting to sell a bible to Mrs. Hopewell because she “does not have one in her parlor.” (O’Connor). Mrs. Hopewell’s dinner begins to burn, so she quickly attempts to end the conversation and save her dinner. Manley Pointer keeps himself in the house to gather information before moving forward with his plan. He talks about his “heart condition and that he may not live long.” (O’Connor) This strikes a nerve with Mrs. Freeman because joy has the same condition. Hulga hears the whole conversation and wants him out of the house so they can eat. Manley Pointer is invited to dinner anyways furthering his plan to exploit Hulga. At dinner she did not acknowledge him which shows her lack of attention and care for what he has to say this is Manley Pointer’s first taste of Hulga’s pride.
Hulga continues to demonstrate her pride when she and Mr.

Pointer talk outside. During this interaction Mr. Pointer inflates Hulga’s pride by flattering her and pretending to be in love. She disregards his advances due to her inflated sense of self. The interaction between Hulga and Mr. Pointer ended with plans to go on a date at ten o’clock the next morning. Later that night in the privacy of her bedroom “She had started thinking of it as a great joke and then she had begun to see profound implications in it. She had lain in bed imagining dialogues for them that were insane on the surface but that reached below the depths that no Bible salesman would be aware of.” (O’Connor) Hulga thinks she can take advantage of Manley Pointer because she is much wiser than him. The thought that she could manipulate a simpleton like Manley Pointer is what begins to blind her to his true intentions, ultimately leading to her

downfall.

The next morning Hulga arrived at the gate and did not see anyone there.

She thought that she had been stood up, as she was doubting him he suddenly popped up and said “I knew you’d come!” (O’Connor) In doing this he gave her doubt and then refilled it with reassurance that he will always be there. By comforting her in this was she lets down yet another wall becoming more venerable. Once the two of them where comfortable Manley Pointer asks where her wooden leg is attached. This catches Hulga off guard because it is not only something she is not proud of, but it is her one weakness. He begins to complement her bravery continuing to inflate her ego. When they reach the edge of the wood Manley pointer kisses Hulga. This is Hulga’s first kiss and she felt nothing and decided that it was a matter of mind control thus making her feel in control. Manley Pointer continues to be romantic as he helps to navigate through the grounds by moving things she might trip over. She begins to like these gestures beginning to make her want to be

dependent.
When they get up to the barn Manley Pointer says he’d like to go up to the loft but its “it is too bad we cannot go up there.” (O’Connor) He says this targeting her pride directly, to which she retorts “why not?” Hulga begins to climb up the ladder that leads to the loft. Manley Pointer follows bringing his case. At this point in the story Hulga believes her seduction has worked on Manley Pointer, so she lets her guard down and dismisses clear signs that something is wrong. Hulga feels confident in Manley Pointer’s loyalty and love towards her, so she tells him how to take off and reattach her artificial leg. She begins to daydream about a life with Manley Pointer. During this loss of sight Hulga fanaticizes a life in which they get married and he takes off her leg at night and puts it back on in the morning. This distracts her long enough so that when she comes back form the day dream she begins to panic. Manley Pointer has finished his con, and she is trapped in the loft with no leg to stand on