A good portion of The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, by Mark Twain, is centered around exposing hypocrisy. The people of Hadleyburg pride themselves on being upright citizens, unable to be corrupted. There are nineteen couples/families who are considered the "principal citizens" of the town, and they all think themselves to be the most morally upstanding people you could find.
However, in pursuit of the stranger's gold, each and every single member of those nineteen...
A good portion of The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, by Mark Twain, is centered around exposing hypocrisy. The people of Hadleyburg pride themselves on being upright citizens, unable to be corrupted. There are nineteen couples/families who are considered the "principal citizens" of the town, and they all think themselves to be the most morally upstanding people you could find.
However, in pursuit of the stranger's gold, each and every single member of those nineteen couples becomes a hypocrite. They all claim to be incorruptible and to never give in to temptation. But when the stranger gives each of them the opportunity to lie in order to achieve great wealth, not a single one of them turns down the chance—this makes them hypocrites. Each couple is exposed for their hypocrisy, except for the Richards, who essentially die of extreme anxiety and guilt, thinking that their fellow townspeople know about their dishonesty.
Edward Richards was also a hypocrite at a point before the story starts—Burgess was accused of something he did not do (we never learn the specifics of the accusation), and Edward knew he was innocent. Despite his claims of being an entirely honest man, Edward did not defend Burgess, fearing disapproval from others.
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