“Good Country People” by Flannery O'Connor is a wonderful example of theme, irony, and symbolism in literature. To achieve this, the author focuses on the key personality traits of each of the characters. First, two families of social classes divided by money, but in some ways quite similar, are introduced. Mrs. Hopewell, a mother and widow, lives a well-defined life of documented social correctness. Her daughter Hulga, who changed her name from Joy, lives with her mother only physically. He sees himself above the country for the legacy of a higher education. In this case, he has a doctorate in philosophy which actually discourages his mother and does nothing to alleviate his self-imposed confinement in the "out of the way" environment. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman are introduced with their daughters Caramae and Glynese. The symbolism of the chosen names is clear and the author places a lot of emphasis on them. Hulga lost a leg at the age of ten, and by remembering it for the entire episode, she is deprived of the capacity for both hope and hope. joy. Hulga's deformity helped shape her as a character. She was insecure about her wooden leg, but now believes it defines her quality, as well as her upbringing. She takes care of it herself and never lets anyone see it. Therefore, this kind of attitude and lack of faith in God are portrayed as the cause of her going down the drain, since she lets Manley take her leg off, she becomes very touchy. He doesn't know what to do without it, he panics and Manley ends up stealing it and abandoning it in the loft. Hulga's upbringing is connected to her lack of faith in God, especially in the mind of her mother. He tells Manley that he doesn't... middle of paper... those words he underlines with a blue pencil: "science does not wish to know anything about nothing." By denying God and affirming faith in Nothingness, Hulga lacks the ability to recognize Manley for who he is because evil has no more meaning for her than God does. This “innocent” vision allows Manley to take spiritual advantage of her, symbolized by him taking her wooden leg. When he implores, "Aren't you just good country people?" he replies, “I hope you don't think I believe that crap! I can sell Bibles but I know what the end will be and I wasn't born yesterday and I know where I'm going!” This last word is very ironic, because without a leg and without a soul and/or without faith in God, Hulga can't go anywhere. Through him he falls into the world of experience, knowing that evil does in fact exist, that there is meaning beyond the nothingness he embraced at the beginning of the story..