May is proud of herself, and what ends up being her undoing is her "virtue." When the farm owner first meets Mrs. Greenleaf during one of the prayer healings of a little plump woman, O'Connor writes: "She was a good Christian with great respect for religion, although , of course, she didn't believe it at all. was true. The fact that Mrs. May was fair to herself and believed that she did not have to account for any of her actions to God when she died was her undoing. She often threatened her sons with "If I die..." and also had several strange dreams in which she was destroyed in bizarre ways, which is both foreshadowing and shows that death was frequently on her mind. When the story finally reaches its climax with the pesky, rogue bull that was apparently the biggest problem during the story goring Mrs. May, O'Connor drives the point home by showing that all Mrs. May lived for was useless. In the main character's final moments, she does not scream or run away from the incoming bull. She is rather shocked that someone would dare to disrespect her so much and that Mr. Greenleaf did not follow her orders to the letter and subdue the bull. She seems more indignant than terrified. The last sentence of the short story says that when Mr. Greenleaf joins him moments after the tragedy, Mrs. May is leaning over the bull that Greenleaf shot a moment too late, and he