"The character of Mrs. McIntyre in "The Displaced Person" by Flannery O'Connor"
...esn’t realize the importance of her workers. Without them, there will be no one to help her with the farm. They are essential to the running of the place. Throughout the story, Mrs. McIntyre is extremely cynical. She believes in only the worst of human nature and has a sneering disbelief in others. Not long after Mr. Guizac and his family move to the farm, Mrs. McIntyre begins to doubt Mr. Guizac. In her conversation with the priest, she tells him, “He doesn’t fit in. He doesn’t understand how to get on with my niggers and they don’t like him”(225). Her feelings toward Mr. Guizac are very unethical. The need and the want to “fit in” is a desire everyone has. In order to fit in, you must gain trust. In order to gain trust, you must have time. These important factors are what Mrs. McIntyre seems to forget about. All this family needs is a little more time to adapt to their new lifestyle and their new surroundings. Then, they can begin to work on gaining the trust of the others. In a desperate attempt to change Mrs. McIntyre’s opinion of Mr. Guizac, the priest tells her, “Give him time. He’ll learn to fit in”(225). His advice is very logical. Yet, Mrs. McIntyre still doubts Mr. Guizac and is ready to fire him. If Mrs. McIntyre wasn’t so skeptical, she wouldn’t have as many problems getting along with and keeping her workers. Mrs. McIntyre’s actions altogether are detrimental. She does things out of hate instead of love. In her attempt to find a way to keep Mr. Guizac, she decides that she is going to have to fire someone. She tells the priest, “I’ve decided to give Mr. Shortley his months notice tomorrow”(211). This news frightens Mrs. Shortley and she has a stroke and dies. Not only do Mrs. McIntyre’s harmful actions kill Mrs. Shortley, they also cause the death of Mr. Guizac. Mrs. McIntyre says,...