There were many interesting ironic inconsistencies that I found in “Good Country People.”
1. Joy/Hugla’s name. One name is beautiful, light, and well, joyous, the other is described many times as being “ugly” yet both are used for the same person. Hulga is used when O’Connor is describing the action from Hulga’s point of view. Joy is used when Mrs. Hopewell is observing her daughter.
2. Joy/Hulga’s age. Like in “The Life You Save…” we have a character who is about thirty being described as being a teenager.
3. The hollowed out Bible. The sacred book is used to contain whiskey, condoms, and a playing card (the cards that are certainly used for gambling also have lewd pictures on them.)
4. The Bible salesman not being a Christian.
5. The “good” and “simple” country boy is neither but Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell are both despite Mrs. Freeman’s statement that, “Some can’t be that simple…I know I never could.”
6. The bible salesman’s name of “Pointer” and Mrs. Hopewell’s mailbox. Neither of the names that are given are the real. If you’re keeping track that is at least 3 times when names are used that are not what they are supposed to be.
So what do these many instances of juxtaposition amount to? As Hulga says to the Bible salesman, “You’re a fine Christian. You’re just like them all— say one thing and do another” (p. 283), the reader realizes that the entire story revolves around that notion: saying one thing and doing another. Left and right in this story things are not what they seem, and ultimately the upstanding, simple, good, Christian Bible salesman named Pointer is none of the things he says he is, or that the women think he is. Moral of the story? To never judge a book by it’s cover, even if it’s the Bible.