Mrs. Hopewell describes "good country people" as people who are "not trash." She repeatedly says they are the "salt of the earth." It becomes clear as the story unfolds that she considers people she can control as "good country people." They are people onto whom she can project her own ideas (or fantasies) of who they are or should be. They are people who seem simple, ordinary, and not threatening to her. It's no wonder that as Manley Pointer insinuates himself into her good graces, she should think of him as "good country people," saying to him, “Why, I think there aren’t enough good country people in the world!”

Although she thinks she is different from her mother, Hulga has picked up the same tendency to look down on "good country people" and to feel she can control them. She decides she knows who Manley is on the most superficial basis, and she is frightened when he shows her his hidden alcohol stash. She asks, echoing her mother's definition of the phrase, "Aren’t you just good country people?” This elicits a defensive response from Manley:

The boy cocked his head. He looked as if he were just beginning to understand that she might be trying to insult him. “Yeah,” he said, curling his lip slightly, “but it ain’t held me back none. I’m as good as you any day in the week.”

Manley understands the condescension in the term as both Hulga and her mother use it, and he asserts himself. Perhaps because he is evil, he won't let Hulga put him into her predesignated "good people" slot. Instead, he reveals the extent of his hardness and malice.

"Good country people" refers to those whom Mrs. Hopewell sees as simple and moral. They are the opposite of how she views her own daughter, Hulga, who revels in her nihilism and uses her education to demonstrate her supposed superiority. The "good country people" are seen as innocent, as opposed to the experience that Hulga imagines herself to have, and the experience that Manley Pointer actually has.

Many of O'Connor's stories demonstrate irony in the title. This story is no different. Hulga seeks to tempt and corrupt Manley Pointer, seeing him as a simple Bible salesman. Yet he turns out to be more corrupt than she could imagine. He steals her leg, & when she pleads, “Aren’t you just good country people?” he replies, “I hope you don’t think that I believe in that crap! I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday and I know where I’m going!” Thus, the "good country people" turn out to be a lie.

When Mrs. Hopewell refers to others as "good country people," she means it as praise for people who are "simple" and "the salt of the earth." O'Connor uses this dialogue ironically, however, because Mrs. Hopewell only uses this phrase to describe people she considers to be inferior to herself. Mrs. Hopewell not only calls the Freeman family--her hired help--good country people, she also uses the term to describe Manley Pointer, the Bible salesman who comes to her door. Neither Mrs. Freeman nor Manley is entirely what they seem, so Mrs. Hopewell's labels ultimately look ridiculous.