A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work and her own family hired a displaced person after World War II.
When Mrs. McIntyre finds out that Guizac has asked his teenage cousin to come to America by marrying one of the African American farm hands, she is appalled, her appreciation of him melts down.
When she eventually goes to fire him, she becomes a silent participant in his murder, when – with Mrs. McIntyre quietly observing – a bitter, resentful Mr. Shortley positions a tractor to roll over Guizac's body as if by accident as he works beneath another machine.
Mrs. McIntyre's farmhands abandon her and, after she suffers a nervous collapse, she is bedridden and receives no visitors save for the priest.
[2] O'Connor's mother also employed a Polish refugee family and several African American laborers at Andalusia.