Poor Hulga. She has a wooden leg and she was taken advantage of. While I do pity her situation, I still think that she shouldn't have been so naive. I mentioned this in class, but I will say it once again: I don't mean to be rude or insensitive by any means. I understand that handicapped people face obstacles that I cannot even begin to fathom. However, Hulga is 32 years old and has little room for excuses. Given that the story was published in 1955, I'm assuming that most women, especially women in Hulga's predicament, were not as gregarious as they are now. Therefore, I think Hulga should have picked up on the fact that Manley, on the first date, was being a bit too forward in asking her to remove her wooden leg. And maybe it's just me being too sheltered or something, but who tells someone they love them on the first date? Wasn't it kind of obvious to her that he wanted something? Also, he didn't even care that she lied about her age, considering the fact that Hulga claimed to be 17, a grand total of 15 years of difference.
Overall, I do feel badly that Hulga was abandoned without her wooden leg. Just to be perfectly clear, I do not hate Hulga or think that she deserved what she got, but I think that given her age and her experiences she should have been more cautious. I know that the purpose of this story is to show that looks can be deceiving with Manley. However, I think that looks can be deceiving with regards to Hulga as well. I expected her to be extremely sheltered because she is a 32-year-old woman living at home with an apparently useless degree in philosophy, yet she randomly decides to go on a picnic with a guy named Manley Pointer. Again, this might just be me, but Hulga should have seen it coming.
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