All those children were what did her mother in--eight of them: two born dead, one died the first year, one crushed under a mowing machine. Her mother had got deader with every one of them. And all of it for what? Because she hadn't known any better. Pure ignorance. The purest of downright ignorance!O'Connor, ''A Stroke of Good Fortune'' -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)
When I first read this passage in the story, I laughed becuase, knowing O'Connor, I knew this statement was going to turn right around and bite Ruby in her big, fat butt. The second time I read this statement, I appreciated it even more, because this statement haunts Ruby in the best way possible. It is hilariously ironic that while Ruby rants on and on about the ignorance of her mother and two sisters, who all seem to embrace the thought of having children, she, herself, is unknowingly four or five months pregnant.