Flannery O'Connor's short story "The Good Country People" is about four main characters and their misconceptions about each other and about life in general. Country people are generally considered humble and hard-working individuals and Flannery O'Connor uses the concept as an ironic title in her story "Good Country People". The story opens with a description of Mrs. Freeman, the wife of Mrs. Hopewell's newest farmer. Mrs. Hopewell was hesitant to hire her because of Mrs. Freeman's credentials that Mrs. Freeman was "the most curious woman who ever walked the earth", "she must be interested in everything", "she will want to know all your business” (2525); However, Ms. Hopewell hired the Freemans anyway because she had no other candidates and made it clear that "she would make sure she was in everything – she would put her in charge of everything, she would put her in charge of everything." orders” (2525) making Mrs. Freeman so busy that it would give her no opportunity to be busy. Mrs. Hopewell, a divorcee with an optimistic but naive outlook, has a well-educated, thirty-something daughter, Joy, disabled and a bitter person. Later in the story, a self-proclaimed Christian and country boy, Manly Pointer, came to the Hopewell farm to sell Bibles. He sold himself perfectly to Mrs. Hopewell, who thought he was a good country boy, but found him boring. Pointer then lures Joy to the barn the next day and, although Joy thought she was going to seduce and educate Pointer, he had his own less than admirable agenda. Hopewell is an optimist, as reflected in the name O'Connor chose for her. Mrs. Hopewell uses a lot of clichés and truisms in the middle of paper ......t of the earth” (2529). Ms. Hopewell is known for her clichés, an ideal cliché for this story "Good Country People" would have to be "don't judge a book by its cover." For Mrs. Hopewell had considered the Manly Pointer "simple", reflecting her ignorance of evil in the world, as he had caused her daughter severe mental and physical anguish. Such ignorance was Mrs. Hopewell's greatest fault, as she allowed evil acts and failed to protect her daughter, as she claimed to treat her like a child. Each character was seen as good or showed certain behavioral signs. Until a deeper analysis was done to understand how each character was “broken” in their own way. Works Cited O'Connor, Flannery. “The Norton Anthology of American Literature.” Good country people. Ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. 8th ed. New York: WW Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 2524-37. Print.