Redemption In Good Country People

Redemption is a key element in everyone’s life. Be it from a poisonous marriage, a difficult assignment, or eternal damnation. It is a hope that one’s future could be brighter and that salvation from grim circumstances is possible. Flannery O’Conner explores the path towards redemption in her story “Good Country People.” The plot revolves around a 32-year-old woman with a wooden leg and strong atheist views. She is in need of redemption because she is arrogant and spiteful, constantly bashing her mother and acting childish and haughty. Mrs. Hopewell, too, is in need of redemption as she lives in an idealized bubble, relying on clichés to justify the wrong in the world.
Joy-Hulga’s devotion is mostly focused on the care of her wooden leg. She “took care of it as someone else would his soul, in private and almost with her own eyes turned away” (1643). This line demonstrates a sincere side to Hulga and the reality that every human worships

O’Conner believed that one must be shocked into salvation to be saved. Thus, Hulga’s trauma is the start of her journey to redemption. Ironically, Manley Pointer was used as an “agent of God” to change Hulga’s life even though he was lying when he said he has devoted himself to Christian service. The moment of truth for Joy occurs when she realizes she has been swindled and Pointer was only after her prosthetic. However, the fleeting feeling of belonging to someone and being completely surrendered has placed a new yearning in her heart. According to O’Conner’s beliefs, the path to salvation is not easy and it is marked by suffering and disaster, but the joy and hope that results is worth any pain along the way. Whether “redemption” is the right word or not, every person will have a moment in their life when they are stripped of control and must rely entirely on a constituent beyond their