Good Country People Literary Analysis

In addition to the characterization of Joy-Hulga O’Connor’s depiction of Mrs. Hopewell creates irony that begins with her names. Like joy, Mrs. Hopewell, is full of the same limiting perceptions of those around her. Demonstrated by the belief that country people are “good”, or the “salt of the earth.” In much the same way Joy’s impairment results in Mrs. Hopewell’s perpetual assumption that joy is like a child. She regards her with

Most of Flannery O'Connor's stories seem to contain the same elements: satirical and regional humor, references to God and Christianity, violent similes and metaphors, lots of stereotypical characters, grotesque humor and often focuses a lot of description on character's clothes and faces. However, one of the most important elements of O'Connor's "Good Country People" is the relevance of names. Her choice of names seem to give indications about the personalities of the characters and seem to be more relevant to the story than what the reader would commonly overlook as simply being stock character names. Mrs. Hopewell losing her "joy" (both her daughter and her

Flannery O’Connor, undoubtedly one of the most well-read authors of the early 20th Century, had many strong themes deeply embedded within all her writings. Two of her most prominent and poignant themes were Christianity and racism. By analyzing, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” these two themes jump out at the reader. Growing up in the mid-1920’s in Georgia was a huge influence on O’Connor. Less than a decade before her birth, Georgia was much different than it was at her birth. Slaves labored tirelessly on their master’s plantations and were indeed a facet of everyday life. However, as the Civil War ended and Reconstruction began, slaves were not easily assimilated into Southern culture. Thus, O’Connor grew up in a highly racist area that mourned the fact that slaves were now to be treated as “equals.” In her everyday life in Georgia, O’Connor encountered countless citizens who were not shy in expressing their discontent toward the black race. This indeed was a guiding influence and inspiration in her fiction writing. The other guiding influence in her life that became a major theme in her writing was religion. Flannery O 'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of a Catholic family. The region was part of the 'Christ-haunted ' Bible belt of the Southern States. The spiritual heritage of the region profoundly shaped O 'Connor 's writing as described in her essay "The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South" (1969). Many

The short story "Greenleaf" shows us some of the central themes of Flannery O'Connor's literary work.

In Good Country People, the characters that experienced the tragedy can easily fit within either the protagonist or the antagonist box. In the story, the three main characters within the tragic event are a kind old mother, an arrogant disable college grad, and a seemingly simple bible salesman. After O’Connor gives the initial description of the characters, the characteristics that are usually associated with protagonist and antagonist.

Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia. She was an American writer. O’Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories in her life time. She was a southern writer who wrote in Southern Gothic style. In the Article, Female Gothic Fiction Carolyn E. Megan asks Dorothy Allison what Southern Gothic is to her and she responded with, “It’s a lyrical tradition. Language. Iconoclastic, outrageous as hell, leveled with humor. Yankees do it, but Southerners do it more. It’s the grotesque.”(Bailey 1) Later she was asked who one of her role models was and she stated that Flannery O’Connor was one she could relate to. One of O’Connor’s stronger works was “Good Country People” which was published in 1955.

Characterization is the most prevalent component used for the development of themes in Flannery O?Connor?s satirical short story ?Good Country People.? O?Connor artistically cultivates character development throughout her story as a means of creating multi-level themes that culminate in allegory. Although the themes are independent of each other, the characters are not; the development of one character is dependent upon the development of another. Each character?s feelings and behavior are influenced by the behavior of the others.

Because of her poor self-image, Hulga Hopewell melts as soon as she sees that the Bible salesman thinks that she is beautiful. He looks at her in a way that no one else ever has before. Manley Pointer not only smiles at her, but gazes at her in admiration and tenderness. The mere idea that this Bible salesman would be drawn to her leaves Hulga in complete astonishment and wonder. The narrator describes Hulga's fascination with the boy's fondness by saying, "It was like surrendering to him completely. It was like losing her own life and finding it again, miraculously, in his" (141). No one, including her mother, had ever seen Hulga as beautiful. For this reason, Manley easily wins her trust, and ultimately, tricks her. Hulga's immediate surrender to Manley

Freeman are not the good country people, but Mrs. Hopewell and Joy-Hulga are. Mrs. Hopewell comes across as very sincere and earnest. She tells Manley up front that she didn't want a Bible and he "might as well put those up" (302). She didn't mislead him in any way. Joy-Hulga also demonstrates her qualifications to be a good country person. As she spends more time with Manley, and the story develops, she shows her genuine self that she has been trying to hide behind Hulga. She becomes very open and honest with Manley. She tells him that "there mustn't be anything dishonest between [them]" (307). She also shows how simple, or innocent, she really is. She, despite having a Ph.D. in psychology, is very naive to the way people behave. She is clueless about Manley's real intentions with her. He had met her the day before and had already proclaimed his love to her. She reveals her innocence when she asks him "Aren't you, aren't you just good country people?" (309). The masked truth and reality are most obviously revealed through the character's souls. Mrs. Freeman, who had a "special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, [and] assaults upon children," had an evil soul that was fortunately very passive in its actions (299). Mrs. Hopewell, on the other hand, "had no bad qualities of her own" (298). Her soul was passively good.

To begin with, Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” describe the live of a mother, Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter, Joy and the irony of their relationship. During this time women were not seen as equal to men as they are in today’s southern society. Women had more of a domestic role, while men were educated and worked to support the family. In O’Connor’s “Good Country People”, the characters in the story provide evidence where they are stereotyping others. For example, the text states “She could not help but feel it would have been better if the child had not taken the Ph.D.” (O’Connor 370). This statement is from Mrs. Hopewell this statement shows how she thinks that education have not had positive affect on Hugla also, she does not have much desire for her daughter education. Than eventually stating “it

O’Connor also poses the contrast between the old and new South in her short story “Good Country People”. Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman represent the old South because of the way in which they carry themselves and their traditional beliefs and values. Mrs. Freeman works for Mrs. Hopewell who states “the reason for her keepin her so long was that they were not trash. They were good country people”(O’Connor 272). Mrs. Hopewell describes Mrs. Freeman and her two daughters as “two of the finest girls she knew and Mrs. Freeman was a lady and that she was never ashamed to take her anywhere or introduce her to anybody they might mett”(O’Connor

Joy-Hulga plans to seduce Manley Pointer into being intimate with her. She assumes he is gullible because he is a young boy; seducing him would be like taking candy from a baby. Joy-Hulga is the victim of an bewildering accident; she now plans to make Manley Pointer a victim of her seduction. Joy-Hulga joins her young prey in the loft of a barn. This is her opportunity to have Manley Pointer all to herself. She falls victim to his first tactic of getting her to tell him she loved him. He proceeds by persuading her to show him how take off her wooden leg. “Without the leg she felt entirely dependent on him (O’Connor 184). This is the moment that the tables turn and Joy-Hulga becomes the victim of Manley Pointer’s manipulation. Mr. Pointer runs off with Joy-Hulga’s artificial leg and she is left sitting there in the loft. Joy-Hulga learns that there are good country people in the world and then there are some people like Manley Pointer who are no good at all.

Thesis Statement: In Flannery O'Connor's short story "Good Country People," the expulsion of the outside world allows for more emphasis on the symbolic nature of each of the active characters.

Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor is a story with a lot of ironic elements in it. These are mostly found in the way that the characters depict themselves in contrast of how they truly are. For example, Mrs. Hopewell says that she has no bad qualities of her own, but she is a constant liar is an how she happened to hire the Freemans in the first place and how they were a godsend to her and how she had them for four years. The reason for keeping them for so long was because they were not trash” (O’Connor 247). Mrs. Hopewell is not the only hypocrite in this story; Manley Pointer is also incredibly hypocritical, fake, and manipulative. He depicts himself as a “Bible salesmen”, but in reality he is a con artist. When Hulga opens up his Bible, she sees a flask of whiskey, cards, and condoms in it. This would be seen as incredibly offensive and sinful to a Christian. According to Thomas F. Gusset, “Joy/Hulga begins to discover that the Bible

O’Connor also focuses on contrasting characters in her story to bring the plot along, for example the conflict in the story is between Mrs. May and Mr. Greenleaf, two almost completely opposite characters. Mrs. May is shown as a bitter character who blames others for her problems, although most are self-inflicted. Such as how she hired Mr. Greenleaf for fifteen years although she obviously hates him, or how she ends up raising bitter and cruel sons who treat her with no respect. On the other hand the Greenleaf’s is simple, although uneducated, but manages to raise two successful sons, unlike Mrs. May’s. However, Mrs. May looks down on Mr. Greenleaf because she feels he is inferior to her in social standing and intelligence. . For example when she went to O.T. and E.T.’s farm and saw their milking parlor, she decided automatically that they were paid for the Government and the boys didn’t work for it. Mrs. May says how “I would have to do it myself. I am not assisted hand and foot by the Government.” This illustrates how Mrs. May still thinks less of the Greenleafs, even if they have a better farm then her because she thinks they did not gain it themselves, that it was instead paid for by the Government. The Greenleaf boys have a better working farm then her, and therefore are a little higher than her in