In Flannery O'Connor's stories, "Good Country People", "All That Rises Must Converge", "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and “The life you save can be your own”, there are many similar characters and situations. Few, if any, of the characters are sympathetic, and most of them are grotesque. Two of the stories have characters who view themselves as superior in some way to those around them, and in some cases these characters experience a downfall, illustrating the old proverb "Pride goes before a fall" ( King James Bible, Proverbs 16). :18). Two of the stories include a character with some type of disability, three of the stories feature a very turbulent relationship between a parent and child, and three of the stories contain a character who could easily be described as evil. In “Good Country People” There are two characters who believe they are superior to others. Mrs. Hopewell describes herself as having “no bad qualities” (DiYanni p. 189). She also takes it upon herself to categorize the people she meets as “good country people” or “trash” (pp. 188, 189). There don't seem to be any shades of gray in his thinking. Joy/Hulga Hopewell also considers herself superior, but her superiority lies in her intellect. She makes it known that if not for her poor health, she would be at a university teaching people who “knew what she was talking about” (p. 191). Although Joy/Hulga believes herself to be intellectually superior, she is deceived by the Bible seller to such an extent that he is able to steal her wooden leg (p. 200). “Everything That Rises Must Converge” also contains two supposedly superior characters, Julien and his mother. Julian's mother believes herself superior because his grandfather was a former governor, a prosperous landowner with two hundred slaves. She also believes that being white makes her superior to people of other races. She believes that these people should stand up, but “on their side of the fence” (p. 214). Later in the story, she offends a "black" woman by patronizing her child. This woman is so upset that she physically attacks Julian's mother (p. 221). Julian also considers himself superior. He feels superior to his mother because he does not consider himself racist. In reality, he is as racist as his mother, but he shows his racism in a different way, seeking out what he calls "some of the best guys" to befriend (p..