More handpicked essays just for you.
Critical essay on good country people
Flannery o'connor literary criticism
Literary analysis on flannery o'connor's revelation
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
'Good Country' People' by Flannery is about the story of a 32 years old girl known as Hulga or Joy. Joy is the only daughter in her family and she lost her leg during an accident when she was a child and was given an artificial leg since then. Later in her life, she calls herself Hulga which is apparently the ugliest name she chose in order to rebel against her parent Mrs. Hopewell. Joy attained a degree in philosophy at doctoral level after which she comes home because of complications with her heart. This means that her mother who she adamantly rebels would be taking care of her at home. Hulga isolates herself until she meets a Bible salesman known as Manly Pointer who is held highly by Joy's mum as 'good country people.' When Manly Pointer …show more content…
is invited at Hulga's home, Hulga makes plans of seducing him. At the end, Hulga finds out that Pointer is not the highly reputable Bible salesman as he portrays himself but is an atheist who frequently tricks women who are crippled with his 'highly held name.' Analysis Hulga is portrayed as a protagonist that represents the people with distorted belief and mentality in the society. The author focuses in guiding his readers who have indulged in material aspects of the world to realize their sins and why it is important to hold religious belief. The author puts across that human beings undergo spiritual crisis as he has highlighted in his characters such as Hulga. Hulga pursues nothingness that results in her tragic accident and on her recovery, she embraces the right reason that leads to her well-being (Bao and Zhao, p.89). This means that the author believes that spiritual righteousness is the basis of human well-being. Hulga's mother, Mrs. Hopewell is also guided by her nothingness beliefs as exemplified in her numerous sayings such as 'Nothing is perfect' or 'that is life.' She is a very adamant protagonist in the story who says her beliefs as if she is the only one who holds those sayings. These sayings have been described as obvious and vague yet to her, they are unique and admirable perhaps. The fact that she hardly sits down to evaluate her own beliefs and sayings portrays that she holds vague ideas (Sustana, p.1). This may also question her view of the 'good country people.' This is because she often told people about the 'good country people' referring to Pointer and Mrs Freeman's daughter who were beautiful (Sustana, p.1). There is no any valid reason as to why she described this family with very high regard other than the fact that she hired Freeman's family since they were the only people who applied for the job she offered. Her logic reasoning is even foregone at her ignorance of the negative comment she received from the reference of the Freemans. The Freemans' references stated that Mrs.
Freeman was very nosy in the whole world but still, Mrs. Hopewell chose to regard them as 'good country people.' Which is pretty much naïve and nothingness altogether coupled with her own beliefs and sayings (Simons, p.67). Her sayings and strongly held beliefs guide her into reshaping the Freemans and her daughter through lines such as no one is hurt by a smile or that people that delve into the brighter sides of things are beautiful even when they really are not naturally (Sustana, p.1). This may be offensive to some people but on another perspective, it may be a way of encouraging the people she feels are unhappy. And perhaps her way of handling things may be derived from her own name 'hope.' She therefore tries to give hope to those she feels need it such as her …show more content…
daughter. Mrs.
Hopewell's principles are however aggressively rejected by her daughter Hulga who intensionally changes her name legally from Joy to Hulga to annoy her mother and even wishes to be far away from 'good country people' that her mother has brought into her life, were it not for her heart condition (Sustana, p.1). According to Thorburn (p.4), Hulga is an anagram for the word 'laugh' which means that if her mother were knowledgeable and smart, she would not even be annoyed by the name. She often imagines herself disputing her mothers' clichés using her Ph.D. in philosophy and her atheism thoughts. However, her opposing ideas all seem to end up in nothingness just like her mother which drives them to the same level despite their different educational
knowledge. From another point of view, the fact that Hulga's mother often used her saying such as 'good country people' may not only be about her good deeds of praising people but to earn herself power to describe people as good, things as beautiful, or fine or even trash. It may also put the described people to a less classy level than Mrs. Hopewell (Sustana, p.1). After gaining the trust of both Hulga and Mrs. Hopewell, the Bible salesman's true colors start to unleash when he states that, 'I may sell Bibles but… I know where I'm going,' symbolizing creepy actions which may be attributed to his mental state and actions that have become a habit against a certain category of girls in the community (Bao and Zhao, p.92).
“Good Country People” is a story about Joy Hopewell, a very well educated young woman living in the rural south. Joy lost a leg in a hunting accident when she was ten and since then had been forced to wear a wooden replacement. She also had a weak heart and it was this affliction that forced her to remain amongst these “good country people” whom she considered to be intellectual inferiors. Though she had great confidence in her intelligence she had very little self-esteem. Joys’ handicap made her feel ugly, so ugly that much to her mothers’ dismay, she had her name legally changed to the ugliest one she could think of, Hulga. One day a traveling bible salesman named Manley Pointer made a sales call and ended up having dinner with the family.
In "Good Country People," Flannery O'Connor skillfully presents a story from a third-person point of view, in which the protagonist, Joy-Hulga, believes that she is not one of those good country people. Joy is an intelligent and educated but emotionally troubled young woman, struggling to live in a farm environment deep in the countryside of the southeast United States, where she feels that she does not belong. Considering herself intellectually superior to the story's other characters, she experiences an epiphany that may lead her to reconsider her assumptions. Her experience marks a personal transition for her and constitutes the story's theme--the passage from naïveté to knowledge.
Hopewell’s daughter, Joy who renames herself to Hulga. Hulga who is also like Phoenix, a victim of circumstances, is highly educated, was shot in the leg while young, and thus has a wooden leg and is also sick in that she has a weak heart. Hulga, goes through these circumstances and takes them negatively, she is seen as not only rude but also always cross and insensitive to other people’s feelings or emotions an example of this is when she shouted at her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, at the table “Woman! Do you ever look inside? Do you ever look inside and see what you are not? God!” (Clugston,
O’Connor, Flannery. “Essays and Letters On ‘Good Country People’” Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 233-234.
The story “Good Country People”, by Flannery O’Conner is a work that uses characterization in a new and interesting way to help shape and present the characters of this story. One of the main characters is Hulga Hopewell, also known as Joy Hopewell. This characters name plays a very ironic role in the story. Through the use of such a peculiar name O’Conner helps to develop and build the characteristics of Hulga. In the story “Good Country People” the use of the name Hulga (Joy) Hopewell helps to further build upon the characterization of Hulga and give the reader a deeper understanding of the character.
He has qualities of “good country people” by selling bibles and “not attending college but devotes his life to Christian service” (178). His appearance and name is a great symbol that signifies of something that is not real which connects to Hulga’s name. Manley’s name has an impact towards Hulga because his name signifies a manly figure which is a missing part in Hulga’s life. On the other hand his last name Pointer symbolizes great divulge of something amazing that will stand out in Hulga’s way. However his name is seen as a false and in reality symbolizes the emptiness of a male presence and the revelation that her life consists of only falsities. O’Conner also used a great mirror description between a bible and his name. Manly pulled out two bibles though one “was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whisky, a pack of cards and a small blue box with printing on it” (192). O’Conner used this hallow bible filled with several profane and contrary items as a symbolism to expose the meaning of Manley’s true self character. Manley is seen as a true nihilist, and through his name, hollow bible and false Christian morals he has revealed himself towards Hulga, as a true meaning of simply believing in nihilistic
People often feel as though their lives are not what they expect them to be so they make the decision of going out and getting an education. This education often changes the way people look at others who were in their previous situations meaning social class. The education sometimes makes people forget who they truly are because they feel bigger than the people they came up with. In the two texts, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor the main characters Dee and Joy try to manipulate people even though they lack something in their lives.
"Good Country People", by Flannery O’Connor, presents us with a look into the monotonous lives of three women living together on a rural farm. All three women are set in their old-fashioned ways, having experienced very little of life, out on the farm. A bible salesman named Manley Pointer, appearing like nothing more than simple, "good country people"(1), pays them a visit one day. It turns out that this simple countryboy is actually a brilliant con artist who scams the pretentious daughter, Hulga (also known as Joy) into removing her wooden leg, which he proceeds to steal. A great change in Hulga is triggered by her experience with Manley Pointer. Although it was a cruel scam, the bible salesman helps her to see the truth about her education and human nature. Hulga realizes that in addition to book smarts, people skills are also crucial in navigating the real world.
The story is center around a small cast. In it Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter Joy, who had her name changed to Hulga, live on a farm with their tenants Mrs. Freeman’s and her two daughters- Glynese and Carramae. Interestingly, Mrs. Hopewell calls the Freeman Girls, Glycerin and Caramel while refusing to call her own daughter anything but Joy. “Good County People”, is told through the interactions of this dysfunctional gaggle of ladies, and their chance encounter with the Bible selling con-artist Manley Pointer. It is a story of a few not so, “Good Country People.”
When looking into works of literature, some stories seem to be similar to others. They can have a similar setting, point of view, theme, or sense of language and style. However, all of these points could be very different as well and could cover different theme or style. Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Country People” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” have some contrasting elements, such as their points of view and use of symbolism, but their similarities in the underlying theme, language, and the setting of these stories reveal how these two stories are impacted by education on both the individual and their family.
...ated and had a Ph.D. in Philosophy. She could not call her daughter a schoolteacher, a nurse, or a chemical engineer and that bothered her. These people and episodes in Joy's life made her a very miserable person. They made her hate all that surrounded her, which included flowers, animals, and young men. This is why Joy changes her name to Hulga when she was twenty-one years old. She believed the name represented her as an individual. The name was fierce, strong, and determined just like her. The name reminded her of the broad, blank hull of a battleship. Joy felt the name reflected her inside and out. It separated her from the people who surrounded her that she hated the most.
Hopewell and Joy-Hulga, but also contains a humorous, yet judgmental tone in the story that defines the characters, mostly in Hulga. Hulga is considered the most ironic character in the story because of the little understanding she has of herself regardless of how well educated she is. She may consider herself the smartest woman in the story and may have pride in herself but what she doesn’t know is that Manley, a man who ironically sells Bibles and yet, is not a Christian, proves Hulga wrong in the end and makes her the one with stupidity. Using third person limited allows the reader to gather a deeper understanding of characters by using other characters that know them better than themselves. Overall, it is highly important to dig deeper into the story regarding narration by asking, who is narrating and why is his/her perception important and how does tone and irony contribute to the characters. In this case, the tone and irony gives the reader a better understanding of each individual character, both antagonist and
O’Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People.” The Story and Its Writer. Charters, Ann. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2011. 662-676. Print.
Joy was a young girl when she became disabled. As described in the story, her leg was shot off in a hunting accident when she was just ten years old. Now as a thirty two year old educated woman, Joy’s mental state had been changed due to her disability. “Mrs. Hopewell, (Joy’s mother) was certain that she
Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" is a story told through the examination of the relationships between the four main characters. All of the characters have distinct feelings about the others, from misunderstanding to contempt. Both Joy-Hulga, the protagonist, and Manley Pointer, the antagonist, are multi-faceted characters. While all of the characters have different levels of complexity, Joy-Hulga and Manley Pointer are the deepest and the ones with the most obvious facades.