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Temptation Theme In Good Country People

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“The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem uses this as a metaphor of temptation which is always lurking around. Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, and “The Displaced Person” all show this theme of temptation. All Three characters in Flannery O’Connor’s short stories display the sin of pride. Hulga Hopewell believes she is better than Manley Pointer, Mr. Shiftlet thinks he can do no wrong and that all others are slime, and Mrs. McIntyre stands and watches as one of her employees gets killed so she does not have to fire him. In “Good Country People”, Hulga Hopewell expresses pride when she thinks she is exceptionally better than Manley Pointer. She assumes that she can get Mr. Pointer to fall …show more content…

Shiftlet’s pride is thinking he is perfect, but in “The Displaced Person”, pride is manifested by Mrs. McIntyre when she does nothing to stop Mr. Guizac from being killed. Mr. Guizac tries to get one of the negroes, Sulk, to marry is white cousin. Mrs. McIntyre is appalled by this because blacks and whites were not to marry. She then decided to fire him, but when a tractor is about to run him over she does not stop it to save herself the trouble. Mrs. McIntyre does not wat to have to worry about firing Mr. Guizac so when she sees his death is near she does nothing to stop it. Flannery O’Connor expresses the theme of pride in her short stories, “Good Country People”, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, and “The Displaced Person”. Hulga Hopewell thinks she is above Manley Pointer and can out smart him. Mr. Shiftlet claims everyone else is slime and should b washed away when in reality it is him who is slime. Mrs. McIntyre watches a worker get killed to save herself the trouble of firing him. All three short stories reflect the key point of temptation to sin from St. Cyril’s

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