Flannery O'Connor's story, Good Country People illustrates a favorite theme of the American writer: the difference between the stiff and empty morality advocated by the Protestant religion, and the love and indulgence preached by the Catholicism. The main character in the story, Joy Hopewell undergoes an important transformation by the end of the story that marks the shift from Protestantism to Catholicism. In the beginning, she is a thirty-two year old woman who is an atheist and a philosopher, who mocks at the simplicity of her mother and of Mrs. Freeman, the servant. She has a wooden leg because she has suffered a hunting accident as a child, and it is this handicap that embitters her and makes her believe only in ugliness. The symbolism of the story is very suggestive: first of all, the fact that the girl changes her name from Joy to Hulga hints at her relinquishing of everything beautiful and innocent. Joy gives up simplicity and love in favor of stiff morality and philosophy: "Sometimes she went for walks but she didn't like dogs or cats or birds or flowers or nature or nice young men." Thus, her discontent with the world and her scorn for everything that is not "perfect" are typical of Protestantism. As opposed to her, her mother and Mrs. Freeman believe in indulgence, simplicity and humanism: "Nothing is perfect. This was one of Mrs. Hopewell's favorite sayings. Another was: that is life! And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too." The modesty of Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman makes them believe in what they call "good country people". The wooden leg of the girl is also a symbol: she sees the whole world as if it were handicapped, imperfect and ugly, and cannot accept neither herself nor her surroundings for what they really are. There is thus an evident conflict in the story between these two antagonistic points of vi...