Good Country People Symbolism

Literary devices are used periodically in the three stories to help the story create an image. Symbolism is used in Good Country People because Hulga’s artificial leg. Her leg stands as a representation of her broken identity from when she got shot. It represents that she does not feel pretty or have any self esteem for herself. Arturo’s flight uses imagery as a literary device. The author visually describes Arturo’s punk look. Arturo states himself as having a spiked purple hair and leather stage and creating a vivid picture to the reader. An allegory in Chrysanthemums are the flowers themselves. They represent Elisa’s strength within herself and the way she gardens them. The chrysanthemums also represents her feelings as the flowers are

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.

Within the collection of short stories titled The Art of the Short Story, edited by Dana Gioia, there are a surfeit of stories that mirror one another in terms of similar themes, including but not limited to: love, happiness, journeys, etc. Two short stories in particular, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, share similar aspects pertaining to the dual themes of conflict within the families as well as journeys embarked upon by the main characters of the short stories that lead to the ultimate demise of the families. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” begins with a family conflict arising with relation to the destination of a family vacation. The grandmother of the family makes a suggestion to

The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.

Short stories are seemingly a lost art amongst the literary community. Legendary writers such as Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O’Connor, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many more have paved the way for writers such as Ha Jin and Phil Klay who write today. Now, although one could speak on the importance of each of these tremendous writers, the focus in paper will be on two writings being that of Flannery O’Connor’s, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” and Ha Jin’s, “Under The Red Flag”. Now, each book contains many short stories that encapture readers throughout them. Flannery O’Connor’s classic short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, will be compared and contrasted with Ha Jin’s ,”Decade” and “The Richest Man”. Just as Greg Orwell

Even from the beginning of the story there are signs that the Hopewells have a certain disdain for others that they believe are not as smart or as well off as they are. Hulga does this in a very blatant way with the use of the knowledge gained from her PhD in philosophy. In the passage Hulga references what seems to be a famous philosopher to respond to her mother while knowing full well that her mother would not have any idea who the philosopher would be. She does this both to put her mother down as well as to affirm her own superiority over her.

The story Good Country People, by Flannery O’Connor is a short story published in 1955 in O’Connor’s short story collection A Good Man is Hard To Find. The short story is set on a small farm in rural Georgia. One of the first few things that can or is noticed in this story is how the author O’Connor uses both symbolism and characterization in an interesting and different way that helps present, along with shape the characters she uses in the short story. For example, one of the main characters O’Connor makes fairly interesting is Hulga Hopewell, also known as Joy Hopewell. The other two main characters being Mrs. Hopewell and Manly Pointer, as well play a very iconic role in this story. The author uses symbolism in Good Country People in their names (Mrs. Hopewell, Hulga and Manly Pointer), in colors (blue and green), and in Hulga’s artificial leg.

Flawed protagonist experiences moments of grace and redemption because of divine intervention. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the short story starts with a selfish Grandmother who lies and manipulates others for her desires. Overcome by a sudden surge of selflessness, she receives her moment of epiphany when held at gunpoint by a fugitive, The Misfit. In “Good Country People”, Hulga Hopewell is blinded by her pride. Similarly, she experiences her moment of epiphany through the betrayal of Manley Pointer, which diminishes her ego.

The people we see every day are not always who they appear to be. Our family, friends, peers, work associates, and even our own self’s change who we are sometimes to cope or to seem better off than we are. We put on “Mask” to show the person we want to be seen as and often times people wear more than just one. In Flannery O’ Connor’s, “Good Country People” many of her main characters wore mask. They each had their own reasons that they chose to conceal their real identity. Nevertheless, the characters in O’Connor’s short story wanted to hide their true persona’s or deceive other people. Sometimes it was merely done to cope with their tragic pain and in other cases it was done to deliberately take advantage

In "Good Country People", the sheer fictional elements such as Hulga having a wooden leg only for it to be stolen by a Bible salesman with a nasty habit of stealing from others on his travels is an interesting development that defines Hulga's revelation in such that keeps the reader satisfied. Such elements also show that no matter the person, however they are, can be capable of evil and that not everyone by appearance is as they seem. To add on to this, both Pointer coming across as a well-raised Christian and Hulga's mother always being so conscious and judgmental of her choices further strengthen that ugliness in such terms as one being grotesque stems from the nature of a person for who they are as an individual. "Lord. He bored me to death but he was so sincere and genuine I couldn't be rude to him. He was just good country people, you know- just the salt of the earth." (441) I believe that this quotation reveals how much people are willing to assume that people are good just by the way the look and act.

In Good Country People by FLannery O’Connor, uses symbolism in the choice of the characters names, being ironic and comical. Their names center around their personalities and attitudes. Joy is not joyful, despite her name. When she was ten years old she was in a hunting accident that caused her to lose her leg, so now as a result she has a fake leg. She had bad outlook on life after that and is depressed.

Life is filled with tragedies, whether they be subtle or monumental. In society we are constantly surrounded by hardships and situations that test our own individual character, forcing us to react in order to move forward. The main characters in “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates each react differently to the various tragedies they encounter, revealing their true identities that lie behind the (facade?)/version of themselves they present to the world. These tragedies that factor into all three works are both presented and interpreted differently in each story: In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard rejoices

Exploring the idea that all men are born sinners, O’Connor demonstrates immoral indulgences entertained by various characters. Readers are introduced to grandmother, an elderly woman whose consistent unscrupulous behavior exhibits her inner motives. Grandmother uses subtle, indirect confrontation to get her way until she is faced with The Misfit, a runaway criminal who believes that crime is a justifiable. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” Flannery O’Connor uses characterization to display a loss of morals, imagery to portray evil in society, and symbolism to emphasize the struggle of obtaining grace to prove how life is nihilistic without religion.

    “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” one of O’Connor’s best works, describes a family on a trip to Florida and their encounter with an escaped prisoner, The Misfit. Although “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is an early work in O’Connor’s career, it contains many of the elements which are used in the majority of her short stories. The grandmother, a selfish and deceitful woman, is a recipient of a moment of grace, despite her many flaws and sins. A moment of grace is a revelation of truth. When the grandmother calls The Misfit her child and reaches out to touch him, the grandmother has a moment of grace that enabled her to see The Misfit as a suffering human being who she is obligated to love. The grandmother realizes that nothing will stop The Misfit from killing her but she reaches out to him despite this. The Misfit rejects her love and kills her anyway. This moment of grace is very important

In Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People,” the main characters’ trust is put to the ultimate test. Trapped in vulnerable situations, the protagonists become powerless and have to put their trust in the hands of the “bad guy.” As a result, the main characters fall victim to manipulation. Those who were once in total control of their situations are now stripped of their superior titles and are taken advantage of by the person they once trusted. Egos are bruised in the game of trust and manipulation in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People.” The grandmother and Joy-Hulga are taught lessons of a lifetime that changes the way they see themselves and life forever.