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Flannery O'Connor's short story “Good Country People” is typically seen as one of many stories that depicts themes of the feminist movement. Many see the story as where a well-educated woman seeks to change gender roles and seek self-dependence. However, my interpretation of the story resulted in differing themes of the story. Contrary to popular readings, I find that Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" is used to delegitimize feminism while in other instances it portrays aspects of male dominance to insinuate that women need a man to be in control because women are not capable of taking care of themselves.
O'Connor renders a point to show that women are not capable of being independent by having a well-educated woman like Hulga live
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Hopewell continues anti-feminist rhetoric that seems to undermine Hulga’s need for an education. For example, Mrs. Hopewell states at one point in the story “there was no more excuse for her to go to school…it was nice for the girls to go to school to have a good time.” (O'Conner 3). She is essentially saying that the goal of school for women is to go for social enjoyment instead of getting a quality education. If the story encouraged a feminist ideology, then Mrs. Hopewell would seek to encourage Hulga to become well-educated and have the ability to pursue independence. Instead she goes after Hulga due to her feminist mindset and negatively comments on her by saying “while went about all day in a six-year-old skirt and a yellow sweatshirt with a faded cowboy on a horse embossed on it…Mrs. Hopewell thought it was idiotic and showed simply that she was still a child.”(O'Conner 3). This is just a continuation of surface level attacks towards her daughter and displayed anti feminist actions that were apparent at the time. This further tells why the story does seek to resume the anti-women societal norms instead of the advancement of …show more content…
Hopewell’s description of Mrs. Freeman in the story as “good country people” upholds the stereotypical attributes of what a woman. I interpreted this as a support for stereotypical actions for women. For example, Mrs. Freeman is an example of a long philosophy that women should work in the kitchen. It is ironic that Hopewell sees Mrs. Freeman as “good country people” because of her participation in gossip which is not seen as acceptable. By having Hopewell’s endorsement of nosey behavior and other stereotypical roles of women within the story, the story's portrayal of “good country people” is just O’Connor’s continuation of standards that negatively view women. If Mrs. Freeman was an innocent and selfless individual, then my assessment of Mrs. Hopewell’s use of “good country people” to describe her would not argue that the story is just endorsing stereotypical conduct. However, that is not the case and casting Mrs. Freeman’s conduct as good damages the arguments that the story has premises of
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.
When an individual has to do a compare and contrast for a short story in the realm of literature, I believe that you have to take into account the deeper meaning in a short story. You have to read between the lines, one has to know what the symbols and what metaphors are. “A symbol is something that has a literal identity, but also stands for something else—something abstract—like an idea, a belief, or an emotion. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between one object and another that is different from it.” (Clugston, 2014) The reader needs to know that the author is using figurative language in the short story. Once the individual can understand this, the literature work will be significantly easier to do a compare and contrast essay.
Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" In "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, uses symbolism in the choice of names, almost to the point of being ironic and humorous. These names center around the personality and demeanor of the characters. Hulga, once known as Joy, simply changed her name because it was the ugliest she could think of.
Symbolism has been seen as a very important role in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good country people”. Flannery O’Conner has written several short stories portraying herself as a Catholic writer who attacks religious views being opposed, though uses the fundamentals of nihilism portrayed through Hulga (Joy), the main character of her story. She uses multiple frank descriptions and the usage of different types of symbolism to get the audience to understand her main points. The use of names and an artificial leg give a vivid description of the main character and her views towards nihilism. O’Conner’s symbolistic usage of names, name change and an artificial leg all link the main character’s nihilistic philosophy of life which leads to her
Hulga has been to college for many years, earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy. Coming from such a rural background, she feels that her education raises her status in the intellectual world, and therefore life in general, above anyone not as educated as she is. "You poor baby…it’s just as well you don’t understand"(404). The young woman fails to see that there is much more to life than what you can learn in a book. Due to a heart condition, however, Hulga is forced to remain home on the farm, instead of being in an academic setting where her education would be recognized and encouraged. This attitude that she is above most other people isolates Hulga from everyone around her. Even her mother c...
Even before this event, the struggles of women in society were surfacing in the media. Eliza Farnham, a married woman in Illinois during the late 1830s, expressed the differing views between men and women on the proper relations between a husband and wife. While Farnham viewed a wife as being “a pleasant face to meet you when you go home from the field, or a soft voice to speak kind words when you are sick, or a gentle friend to converse with you in your leisure hours”, a recently married farmer contended that a wife was useful “to do [a man’s] cookin and such like, ‘kase it’s easier for them than it is for [men]” (Farnham, 243).
In Good Country People, Flannery O’Connor explores the complexities of human behavior and how common stereotypes shape the response that these behaviors receive. The title, Good Country People, suggests this work of fiction will tell a tale of modest people living in the countryside as they display neighborly etiquette by performing a series of good deeds for one another. The expectation is that the characters will set an admirable example of how one should conduct his or her life, and thus challenge the reader to embark on a journey of personal improvement. However, this is not a tale of such inspiration, instead it presents characters whose lives (and actions) are quite complicated. None of the characters can be classified exclusively
After the women come across a shattered jar of canned fruit, they converse about Mrs. Wright’s concern about the matter. Mrs. Peters states, “She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break” (Glaspell 918). The women here identify with Mrs. Wright’s concern, because they understand the hard work that goes into canning as part of the demanding responsibilities women endure as housewives. The Sheriff’s reply is “Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 918). In other words, the men perceive the event as insignificant; they clearly see women as a subservient group whose concerns hold little importance.
O?Connor continues to establish theme through her characterization of Hulga. She describes Hulga as being cynical about the world and the people she knows. The irony here is that she sees these people as being simple ?country people,? she doesn?t see them as they actually are, full of hidden feelings and motivations. She views herself as superior to her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, and her mother?s tenant, Mrs. Freeman. Her opinion of the other characters as less than herself, because of their tendency to see their world through the eyes of southern women, limits Hulga?s interaction with them. She...
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.
A husband is thought to be a money maker, a powerhouse, and a leader while a wife is thought to be a cook, a cleaner, and a follower in Gilded Six Bits. The reader recognizes Hurston's representation of gender stereotypes through the typical southern dialect between Missy and Joe, and joe's reaction to Missy after she is caught cheating. Hurston demands the reader to question power inequality in marriages during the 1900s. The Gilded six bits illuminates the haunting idea that female stereotypes to this day may not have completely
Susan B. Anthony, a woman’s rights pioneer, once said, “Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done” (“Women’s Voices Magazine”). Women’s rights is a hot button issue in the United States today, and it has been debated for years. In the late 1800’s an individual named Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote literature to try and paint a picture in the audience’s mind that gender inferiority is both unjust and horrific. In her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman makes the ultimate argument that women should not be seen as subordinate to men, but as equal.
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
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.
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 happiness) and the Bible salesman's own attempt to satisfy his own "manly pointer" proves to the reader that, by coincidence or not, the names of "Good Country People" are indeed very well selected.