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Good Country People Manipulation

Good Essays

In Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People,” the main characters’ trust is put to the ultimate test. Trapped in vulnerable situations, the protagonists become powerless and have to put their trust in the hands of the “bad guy.” As a result, the main characters fall victim to manipulation. Those who were once in total control of their situations are now stripped of their superior titles and are taken advantage of by the person they once trusted. Egos are bruised in the game of trust and manipulation in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People.” The grandmother and Joy-Hulga are taught lessons of a lifetime that changes the way they see themselves and life forever. In “Good Country …show more content…

Joy-Hulga plans to seduce Manley Pointer into being intimate with her. She assumes he is gullible because he is a young boy; seducing him would be like taking candy from a baby. Joy-Hulga is the victim of an bewildering accident; she now plans to make Manley Pointer a victim of her seduction. Joy-Hulga joins her young prey in the loft of a barn. This is her opportunity to have Manley Pointer all to herself. She falls victim to his first tactic of getting her to tell him she loved him. He proceeds by persuading her to show him how take off her wooden leg. “Without the leg she felt entirely dependent on him (O’Connor 184). This is the moment that the tables turn and Joy-Hulga becomes the victim of Manley Pointer’s manipulation. Mr. Pointer runs off with Joy-Hulga’s artificial leg and she is left sitting there in the loft. Joy-Hulga learns that there are good country people in the world and then there are some people like Manley Pointer who are no good at all. The leading lady in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is the bossy grandmother of a traditional, southern family. It is the grandmother’s “final encounter with the Misfit that changes her relations to the world” (Link, "Means, Meaning, and Mediated Space in ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’"). Before her unexpected meeting with the Misfit, the grandmother feels above everyone else. She feels like she can talk …show more content…

The car “turned over once and landed right-side up” (O’Connor 191). The family suffers from minor injuries after the wreck. The family is not aware that they are being watched at the time of the accident. Out of an approaching car hops three men with guns. The grandmother recognizes one of the men as The Misfit, the escaped convict. Once the grandmother identifies The Misfit he has no choice but to starts killing members of the family. The grandmother ends up being the only family member left to be killed. She tries her hardest to talk The Misfit into not killing her like he did the rest of her family. Stuck in a difficult situation, the grandmother pulls religion into her conversation with the Misfit. She relies on her southern roots to soften the cynical beast in front of her. She rambles on and on telling The Misfit to pray. She tries to gain The Misfit’s trust so she can manipulate him into thinking letting her go is a good idea. He seems to reevaluate his life as he squats in front of her. Moments before her death, the grandmother tells The Misfit that he is “one of my own children” (O’Connor 196). Thinking she has fully gained The Misfit’s trust, the grandmother “reached out and touched him on the shoulder” (O’Connor 196). At this moment, The Misfit shoots her in the chest three times. The idea that The Misfit trusts the grandmother is eliminated and so is the entire

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