she is saved from its pitfalls and hypocrisies. In reality, she is not saved from it at all. Pointer returns her comment saying “‘I hope you don’t think ... that I believe in that crap! I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday and I know where I am going!’”(O’Connor 290). O’Connor presents the reader with a critique of religion and Christianity in both of her stories. Joy/Hulga beleives that all Christians are the same, but O’Connor points out that there are all types. Pointer pretends to be a Christian in order to prey off of their needs and insecurities. Joy/Hulga is taken in by his charming and trustworthy persona, but she is unable to see his false motives. “Good Country People” points out that people do not always prove to be who they portray. The reader is left doubtful and questions the idea of naturally “good” people and questions value of the Christian faith.While critizing the Christian faith and practices, O’Connor also raises the issue of fallen human nature. The Misfit in “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and Pointer in “Good Country People” both represent a character of fallen human nature. O’Connor explores the idea of fallen human nature. The Misfit comes from a good family, and he states “God never made a finer woman than my mother and my daddy’s heart was pure gold”(O’Connor 127). O’Connor questions how someone from such a “good family” can turn out to be so evil? Fallen human nature is one explanation posited. The Misfit retorts the grandmother’s argument that he is a good man saying, “Nome, I ain’t a good man ... but I ain’t the worst in the world neither”(O’Connor 128). He has the self-realization that he is not a good person. He does not know where it is that he went wrong, but he st...
