Analysis Of Good Country People By Flannery O Conner

When you read the title “Good Country People” by Flannery O’ Conner the first thing you think is that they are good country people. Looks can be deceiving that is why we have been told you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. In the story “Good Country People” Hulga can be known as aggravating and ill-mannered. As you read further into the story she seems like she is more independent and educated.
Hulga had a lot of attitude towards everyone but it was pushed away because she only had one leg. When she was confronted on page two paragraph two about her ill-mannered behavior she would say, “If you want me, here I am – LIKE I AM.” And it would be brushed aside since no one wanted to argue. She also did not like people, she just tolerated them. Hulga did not like to take walks with her mother so she would tolerate talking to Mrs. Freeman just to get out of walking.
A lot of the reason why she acts the way she does is because she cannot be herself. She wants to be an independent woman but her mother still treats her like a child. Her name used to

be Joy until she turned twenty-one that was when she had changed her name to Hulga. Mrs. Hopewell did not like the name. On page two paragraph four it states, “When Mrs. Hopewell thought the name, Hulga, she thought of the broad blank hull of a battleship. She would not use it. She continued to call her Joy…”.
Mrs.

Hopewell also didn’t like that Hulga had her own beliefs when it came to religion. When the bible boy comes to the house Mrs. Hopewell told him that because Hulga is an atheist she cannot keep bibles anywhere besides her bed. Hulga’s religious beliefs is another sign of her independence but Mrs. Hopewell likes to throw her comments out there which probably makes Hulga upset. She is independent though because she has to walk around with one flesh leg and a prosthetic one. She doesn’t like anyone to help her put the prosthetic leg on she does not even let them see it. Education is something every women needs especially if they want it. At the end of page three in paragraph two it says, “The girl had taken the Ph.D. in philosophy and this left Mrs. Hopewell at a complete loss.”. Mrs. Hopewell does not believe that the degree she has obtained did any good for Hulga because she cannot brag that her daughter is a

Philosopher.
Love is hard to come by especially if you have a hard time trusting people. Hulga had a hard time opening up to anyone but that changed after she opened up to the bible boy. She was still aggravating and ill-mannered but he led her to believe that she could open up to him. They went on a picnic, but things took a toll for the worse and Hulga saw the dark side of him that she did not like. He tried to seduce her so she could take off her wooden leg. Once she did, he ended up leaving with it so she couldn’t get it. Hulga probably lost all of her trust once that had happened.
At the end of the story that is where you see her at her weakest she wasn’t aggravating or ill-mannered she had opened up to somebody where they could talk. Throughout the whole story she seemed upset and would find any way to get away from people by being annoying and rude. By reading this story you realize you can’t trust people that look and seem like they are good. You have to get to know them at their highest and weakest points just like it showed Hulga.