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In the story “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, the readers are told a story of unrequited love between two adults. The story begins with a pair of mothers talking about their children, more specifically their daughters and their accomplishments. One of the mothers, Mrs. Freeman, talks about how one of her daughters is now married and expecting a child and her other daughter is doing her own thing in the world. The other mother, Mrs. Hopewell, talks about her only daughter, Joy and how she does considering the fact that she has a wooden leg. The story then moves over to Joy who now chooses to go by Hulga because she believes it will make her more unappealing to people. Hulga meets a bible salesman named Manley Pointer, who uses his
“Good Country People” is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor in the mid 50’s. The story takes place on farm in Georgia that Mrs. Hopewell owns. Flannery O’Connor uses the characters names and personalities to symbolize that they aren’t really who they think they are. The protagonist Joy-Hulga has a heart condition which and a peg leg. Her heat condition and disability reflects that she is a broken and weak person on the inside. Mrs. Hopewell is Joy-Hulga’s mother, she is very hopeful that her daughter would be something in life but Joy has other visions for herself. Mrs. Freeman works on the farm and her name symbolizes that she is more of a free spirit she tends to live in reality and she is able to see exactly who Joy-Hulga and Mrs. Hopewell really are. In the story a young man named Manly Pointer comes to the farm and says that he is a bible salesman. Mrs. Hopewell assumes he is good country people because he is respectful and a Christian. Manley Pointer tells Mrs. Hopewell that he has a heart condition; at that point Mrs. Hopewell sympathizes with him because Joy-Hulga has the same condition (Flannery O’Connor). At first Joy-Hulga wants nothing to do with Manly Pointer because she is an atheist and he is a Christian. They eventually form a connection because they both share the same condition and Manly Pointer tends to say all the right things to bring her in. Hulga soon realizes that she is not who she thought she was when she is face to face with evil. Manly Pointer is an evil young man and a direct reflection of who Hulga wanted to be.
Hulga believes she has found the right guy. Hulga meets a Bible salesman named Manley Pointer who gives a vibe as good country man. Manly Pointer tells Hulga and her mother he’s from the country. Much like Hulga, Emily meets a northerner by the name of homer, who was a foreman. This is strange, because the Homer does not seem like the kind to take to Emily. With agreement to my statement Jim Barloon says “why did homer, a rowdy extrovert, take take up the spinsterly Emily.” Emily and Homer are seen around the town a lot as the narrator states, “we began seeing him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy” (102). this shows that they have been a couple for the time
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.
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” describes the lives of a mother, Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter, Joy and the irony of their relationship. This passage from the short story expounds on their character development through details of their lives. The selected paragraph uses a matter-of-fact tone to give more information about Mrs. Hopewell and Joy. Flannery O’Connor has given an objective recount of the story, which makes the third person narrator a reliable source. Mrs. Hopewell’s feelings are given on her daughter to examine their relationship. It is reader who takes these facts to create an understanding of these women and their lives. This part of the story illustrates the aspects of their lives that they had little control over. Therefore, it indirectly shows how each woman acclimated to their circumstance. Although genetically related and living with one another, Mrs. Hopewell and Joy were exceedingly different people.
"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.
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.
"Good Country People" starts with the introduction of Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell. O'Connor's most blatant humor is found in the revealing of these two characters, a simple humor for simple people. Immediately, the reader begins chuckling at these two from a decided feeling of superiority over them. Their sacred cliches and gossip routine automatically make the reader want to put them both in the category of "good country people," which, in itself, is an ironic title in that it suggests an immediate air of superiority by bothering to judge a class of people that are generally considered to rest somewhere towards the bottom of society's social order. Clinton Throwbridge further supports this notion when he states, "The titles of many of Flannery O'Connor's short stories...
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” is the tragic story of Joy, or Hulga. Hulga, in the attempt to seduce a supposedly simple-minded Bible salesman named Manley Pointer, ends up misjudging him and losing her leg. Throughout the story, the motivations for why Hulga pursues Manley, even when they are explicitly stated, are never quite clear. Why does Hulga attempt to seduce Manley? Why does she act the way she does in general? One might also ask what the motivation for doing something as insidious as what Manley does. By reading “Good Country People” in light of “vulgar” Marxism and Freudian psychoanalysis, one may open up and understand the actions of Hulga and Manley.
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
In Flannery O’Connor’s stories, “Good Country People”, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”, ”A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, there are many similar characters and situations. Few, if any of the characters are likeable, and most of them are grotesque. Two of the stories have characters that view themselves as superior in one way or another to those around them, and in some cases these characters experience a downfall, illustrating the old proverb, “Pride goeth before a fall” (King James Bible ,Proverbs 16:18). Two of the stories include a character that has some type of disability, three of the stories showcase a very turbulent relationship between a parent and child, and three of the stories contain a character that could easily be described as evil.
I chose to focus my midterm paper on the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. This short story was written by Flannery O’ Connor in 1953. This short story is about a typical family with their ideal issues. The family consists of a father Bailey, mother, eight-year- old boy John Wesley, young girl June Star, the baby, and the grandmother. The grandmother’s constant complaining easily annoys everyone in the family. She comes off as pushy, controlling, and whinny when she doesn’t get her way. The family is headed to Florida for a vacation, of course, the grandmother insists they should travel East towards Tennessee instead. She makes note of a newspaper article about The Misfit, an escaped convict traveling to Florida. The grandmother also
In "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" Flannery O'Conner writes about a family that most people can easily identify with. A trip to Florida is about to be undertaken by the family and the grandmother
Hulga is a perfect example of pride and vanity in “Good Country People.” She received a PhD in philosophy which leads her to believe she is better than everyone she is around. When Manley Pointer, a Christian man, came to
Hopewell is Hulga’s mother, who still calls her joy. She is a divorced, single woman running a farm in southern United States in the 1950s. Mrs. Hopewell is astoundingly nice, but she is certainly not meek. On multiple occasions she lets us know she is a strong, independent and competent woman. Hulga is Mrs. Hopewell’s joy hence the original name of her daughter and she continues to call her by this name regardless of her daughter changing the name. And even though Hulga is hideous and a pouty brat her mother still loves her for the innocent little girl she used to be and does anything and everything to please her daughter. Mrs. Hopewell’s attitude to her worker Mrs. Freeman is condescending and patronizing. Also she is hypocritical towards Manley and tells Mrs. Freeman how much of a bore he was to her. Overall Mrs. Hopewell’s attitude towards her daughter, he worker and Manley Pointer is she is an elitist and she looks down upon all the people below
In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor, we get an image of a mid-eighteenth century post war family from O’Connor’s well rounded use of literary devices. This family is taking a vacation from their home in Atlanta, Georgia to Florida, but in the midst of their callowness, find themselves not only on the road to Florida, but on their way to find themselves… at death’s front door.