Good Country People Short Story

Since the formation of organized civilization, men have used religious information to control women. From forcing them to dress a particular way to being in control of the level of education that women receive, male spiritual figureheads made every effort to keep women from reaching their full potential. In both short stories, the female protagonist is manipulated by a “religious” male antagonist, impersonating how religion victimizes women. “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” depict two separate but similar tales. Each story describes the horrendous ending of women, that leaves the women physically and mentally damaged. According to Galileo, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People” are comparable in characterization, plot development, and theme.

In both stories, the grandmother and Hulga (formerly known as Joy) are portrayed in a harsh image. The grandmother and Hulga also think of themselves as superior to the other characters. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother’s superiority was the way she dressed. “Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (A Good Man is Hard to Find, 471). In

Trust and cruelty play important roles in both stories as well. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother talks of praying to Jesus with the expectation that she can convince The Misfit to spare her life by appealing to his religious sense. However, it becomes evident that The Misfit has probably thought about Jesus more earnestly than she has. The Misfit’s seriousness about religious issues made him a misfit and a criminal accordant to Galileo. The Misfit's uncertainty in Jesus leads him to think that there is no real right or wrong, and no ultimate point to