In the beginning of the story we meet Mrs. Freeman, wife of the hired hand. She and her husband have been working for Mrs. Hopewell for four years. "The reason for her keeping them so long was that they were not trash. They were 'Good Country People,'" according to Mrs. Hopewell. Ironically one of the first things we learn about Mrs. Freeman is that her previous employer has called her "the nosiest woman ever to walk the earth." Then, as the story progresses, we learn she has "a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children". It seems that for a "good country person" she has a perverse curiosity in the macabre. She particularly enjoys hearing all the details of how Joy/Hulga had her leg literally blasted off in a hunting accident.

As the story moves on we can see the conflict between Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter Joy/Hulga. Joy/Hulga treats her mother with disdain, and does everything she can to emphasize her own individuality. She professes to believe in nothing.

After dinner Manley Pointer secretly asks Joy/Hulga to go on a picnic with him the next day. She agrees and during the night she plans to seduce him. She imagines that she easily seduces him and that then, "of course, she had to reckon with his remorse." Being of superior intellect she imagines that she takes his remorse in hand and changes it into a deeper understanding of life. She would take all his shame away and turn it into something useful.

She believes Manley Pointer to be "Good Country People," and is shocked to find out that he is not the good Christian bible salesman she thought him to be.

Although the character of Joy/Hulga at this point in the story may be completely without irony, the story itself is rich in irony from beginning to end. Particularly the phrase "good country people" has become increasingly ironic. Right down to the end of the story when, (speaking of that "good country person", Manley Pointer) Mrs. Hopewell says, "I guess the world would be better off if we all were that simple." Ironically as she speaks Manley Pointer is making off with her daughter Joy/hulga's wooden leg and her eyeglasses, after abandoning her in the loft of the old barn.

In the ultimate display of irony the tables are turned. Joy/H

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Approximate Word count = 838
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)