In Flannery O’Conner’s short story “Greenleaf” Mrs. May is portrayed as a cold, brittle women who is closed to the goodness of living and natural life. Yet, this conclusion is not usually realized upon first reading. First, the reader feels sympathy for her character but, with further analysis, one can see that Mrs. May is not a kind woman. Mrs. May is superficial and tries to hold on to her beauty. Also, one …showed first 75 words of 535 total…

…showed last 75 words of 535 total…religion. Mrs. May does not believe anything that the church teaches; therefore, one can see that she does not want to be saved. She is a mechanical person; her soul has withered up. It takes the bulls goring to make Mrs. May realize that she has lived the wrong way. The bull saves her but it is too late. She has been blind but when she is awakened the truth is unbearable and she dies.