Hulga's Experience Uncovering the Truth about Human Nature
...nd about something and then refuse to consider any other options. That brings us to the character of Joy, better known as Hulga. Despite what she believes about herself, Hulga's character possesses many weaknesses. Hulga's physical disorder symbolizes her emotional, intellectual, and spiritual devastation. Hulga's weakened heart that serves as a symbol of her inability to love anyone or anything. This is the primary focus of O'Connor's character study involving Hulga. Her character is a direct distinction to Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell. Hulga treats her mother disrespectfully, and even asks her if she "ever looks inside" (O'Connor), she never once attempts to see her mother as a compassionate mother that is concerned about her daughter's well being. Instead, Hulga chooses to focus on the negative when it comes to her mother and everything else. Hulga's heart condition causes her to possess no compassion for others; all her pity is reserved for herself. Furthermore, this condition keeps her from emotionally connecting with others. What Hulga desperately needs is to form relationships with people, but her past will not let her get close to anyone unless she feels she can influence them. Manley Pointer who is the country boy who stopped by the house selling bibles to her mother, appeared to be such a victim for Hulga. However, Hulga's extravagant opinion of herself and her knowledge makes her his perfect victim because she believes she is “untouchable”. After meeting Manley, I believe Hulga did feel like she was seventeen again. She was someone whom had never felt loved before and even had a hard time saying it. Manley showed her how to live life with the conditions she had and to believe in herself and others. With Manley’s charm and persuasion, the things he would say to Hugla began to make her more at ease about the way she looked at life in general. By spending so much time with Manley, Hulga began to smile and laugh. This was something she’d never done before. It was like she was finally beginning to open up about the way she viewed things, her attitude and the people around her. It was until Manley changed his personality on Hulga and turned into the opposite of what he betrayed when coming by the house selling his bibles and talking about his Christian val...