O’Connor, but will also seek to draw parallels with “A Good man Is Hard To Find,” and

The story begins in medias res, morning preceding Hulga’s pre-arranged rendevous with Manley Pointer. The exposition delays our learning of that event while O’Connor fleshes out the characters 9some more than others) through a combination of flashbacks and present-time conversation. ( ) The first character we’re presented with (Mrs. Freeman) seems to project and alomsot passively evil aura which puts her in person-to-person conflict with the nearly excessively positive Mrs. Hopewell. ( )

In direct with both of the previously mentioned characters (who’s view of the world seems to eb more external in nature) we have the much more internally oriented Hulga. “Woman! Do you ever look inside?” she asks her mother “Do you ever look inside and see what you are not?” ( ) If Hulga’s outlook on life wasn’t clear to the reader by that point, it becomes abundantly so when her mother (Mrs. Hopewell) recounts the following highlighted passage from her (Hulga’s) book: “Science on the other hand as to assert i

Although Hulga’s and her mother’s worldviews seem to cover both ends of the spectrum, Manley seems to use them both to his advantage. Mrs. Hopewell’s externally-oriented approach to the world doesn’t allow her to see past the façade of the naïve Bible salesman, and Huga is so internally focused she fails to look beyond the cacoon of “wisdom” she’s erected to see Manley for what he really is. As Manley finishes his unsecessful sales pitch, he cateches up with Hulga on his way out. Not only does he manage to get her attention, but piques her interest ot the point that she agrees to meet him the following night. As the story continues, Hulga becomes caught up with the idea of spoiling what she believes is Manley’s fragile innocence, and reshaping his view of the world to match her own. ( )

In the conversation that ensues following their late-night meeting at the gate We get the a strong sense of foreshadowing when Manley begins to contradict himself by expressing great surprise at Hulga’s unabashed disbeleig in God, but also stops periodically to kiss her deeply. ( ) As appareant as it appears to the reader at this point that something sinister is afoot, Hulga’s overwhelming sense of superiority manages to keep her totally oblivious… “Even before he released her, her mind, clear and detatched and ironic anyway, was regarding him from a great distance, not with amusement, but with pity.” ( ) Once they arrive at their destination (the barn) Hulga can hold back her towering sense of intellectual “mastery” over Manley and tells him “I have a number

Some topics in this essay:
Manley Manley, Manley Pointer, Christian You’re, Holy Bible, , Flannery O’Connor, manley, reader left, country people”, view world, hulga, left sense,