In Good country people, O’Connor raises two essential questions: the question of faith and knowledge. These two aspects are represented in different characters disproportionally, thus defining their choices and behavior. Faith in this context presents itself in the broader concept, including the Christian faith and faith in general – a solid belief in something fundamental and life-defining. In the meantime, knowledge does not represent a degree or various facts but rather the level of intelligence, critical thinking, and the ability to learn from previous experience.
The concepts of grace and the devil are based on the faith and knowledge’s interactions. There is a strong faith in their moral and intelligent superiority in the “good country people” represented in a short story by Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell. However, if put to the test, their actual state proves nothing but ignorance of their flaws. It concludes that the author criticizes having a solid faith alone, without a profound knowledge to support it. On the contrary, Hulga Freeman and Manley Pointer represent the knowledge’s prevalence over faith. Hulga thought herself to be completely faithless, despite her convictions that science and logic are more than capable of proving meaningful statements and concepts. Only the meeting with Pointer – the person whose disbelief is far more substantial and real – makes Hulga realize her mistakes. By the end of the story, it is shown that Pointer will not denounce his nihilism, making Hulga the only character who is redeemed. Consequently, Hulga’s redemption and the restoration of balance between faith and knowledge can be considered an act of grace; however, she remains surrounded by the imbalance of others, which indicates the territory of the devil.