Good and Evil in Good Country People In "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, the disguised truth is reflected unmistakably through reality of history, its equal counterpart. For every good or bad thing there is an antagonist or opposing force. Each character has a duplicate personality mirrored in someone else in the story. In the story, the names and personalities of the characters clash. The name is the mask that covers the personality, representative of the real appearance of each character. When Mrs. Hopewell named her daughter Joy, she hoped for all the joy that comes from raising a child and watching them develop a life of their own. What Mrs. Hopewell received was a disabled daughter who lived miserably at home and was the antithesis of everything her mother believed. Even the name Hulga is a mask. When Joy changed her name to Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell had decided that Joy "had thought and thought until she had come across the ugliest name in any language" (O'Connor 299). Although Joy-Hulga chose the name for its “ugly sound” and how good it suited her, she “secretly longed for an inner self that was wonderfully unique” (Bloom 99). The name Manley, the Bible salesman, has similar implications. The name Manley includes the word “man,” but it is constantly revealed through his childish acts as his mumbling “was like the sleepy fussing of a child” (O’Connor 307). O'Connor also refers to him as having breath as sweet as a baby's and his "kisses were sticky like a baby's" (307). The beginning of the story, “Good Country People,” is misleading. Initially, the story casts Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer as good country people. According to Mrs. Hopewell t... half of the paper... the story. Flannery O'Connor portrayed both the good and evil sides of human nature. It also explored the religious issues prevalent in today's society. The struggle between good and evil and real and hidden truths build the foundation for "Good Country People." Works Cited Bloom, Harold, ed. Flannery O'Connor. New York: Chelsea, 1986.Humphries, Jefferson. Inner otherness: Gnostic readings in Marcel Proust, Flannery O'Connor and Francois Villion. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1983.May, John R. The Pruning Word: The Parables of Flannery O'Connor. Notre Dame, IN: U of Notre Dame P, 1976. O'Connor, Flannery. "Good country people." Literature: reading, fiction, poetry, drama and essay. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Di Yanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 297-310.Walters, Dorothy. Flannery O'Connor. New York: Twayne, 1973.