Conflict in Good Country People Essays

Conflict in Good Country People Essays Conflict in Good Country People Essay Conflict in Good Country People Essay The main conflict in the story, â€Å"Good Country People†, is between Joy/Hulga and Mr. Pointer the â€Å"Bible salesman†. Joy had her leg shot off in a hunting accident when she was twelve years old. From then on she was always depressed. She changed her name to Hulga because it was the ugliest name she could come up with and she only wore the rattiest clothing so it was impossible for any person to find her attractive. She also has a wooden leg, which becomes the centerpiece of the focus of the entire story. One day a bible salesman comes along and is invited to dinner by Hulga’s mother, Mrs. Hopewell. During dinner Mr. Pointer becomes fascinated with Hulga. His is eerily attracted to her and she cant figure out why. She finally takes a liking to him and the make their way to the barn so they can be alone. Hulga thinks they are going to make love, but Mr. Pointer is only attracted to one thing, her wooden leg. Once she becomes comfortable with him he begins asking questions about it. He finally just takes the leg from her. She tries to take it back but is too weak with only one leg. She finally realizes he’s a fake when he goes to put her leg in his briefcase and sees I fake bible with a flask and condoms between the cover. She finally comes to grips with who she is after allowing herself to be close to someone who wasn’t who they said they were. Joy finally realizes that she has been hiding who she really was. Her wooden leg made her extremely self-conscious to the point that she changed her name and only wore the dirtiest, rattiest clothing. When someone showed the least bit of affection torwards her she instantly fell in love with him. She opens up to him and finally feels comfortable about who she is. Once he steals the leg she realizes that he was a fake the whole time. She sees that what he was doing with his life was no different than what she was doing with hers. They were both living lies. So not only was there a conflict between Joy and the bible salesman, but there was also conflict between Joy and Hulga as well.