A common definition for arrogance is “offensive display of superiority or self-importance. Arrogant individuals don 't often realize they display this trait. My aunt is a good example of arrogance. She always has to be right on every issue with any family member. On many occasions she belittles me. Such behavior is rampant in the stories of Fannery O’Connors '. Arrogance is often a hallmark in her protagonists. In particular, in the stories from “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” we encounter two protagonists who appear to be blinded by their own arrogance. Ultimately, their arrogance leads to their downfalls, which ironically allows them to finally see the error of their ways. My own personal experiences with arrogance …show more content…
Because of this disability, she feels that everyone has to show pity for her. She expects only pity because of her leg and her heart condition. Joy has no religious values or believes in family values as much. She is really intelligent and makes that her strongest value mostly because of her being a cripple, and she has a Ph.D. in philosophy. It is that reason that Joy thinks she has the right to act the way she does more so because of her leg, and that 's how people will only see her as. Joy 's relationship with her mother is not quite as loving as it should be. Joy changes her name to Hulga, more so to annoy her mother, who doesn 't think it 's a beautiful name. Joy 's mother has this belief that all people who are brought up right with family values and God are good country people. This belief is something Hope doesn 't believe in too much until she meets a traveling bible salesman, named Manley …show more content…
She believes that her standards come before everyone including her family. Also that she believes herself to be more superior in a way since she 's older, and thinks she 's the head of the family. Also that she sees herself superior than most people even her family. The grandmother, who 's from the South also sees race for what it is. The story itself is written around the 1950 's, so readers can assume that a lot of her upbringing is seeing African Americans rights unequal to those of whites. Calling blacks by their derogatory names and thinking herself to be above their standards. But the grandmother is also about family and religion. Her belief when talking to Red Sammy, a gas station and restaurant owner who the family stop at to dine before hitting the road, is that coming from a good family with the right upbringing will make you have a better life. The grandmother is at times also needy. She doesn 't give orders or complain too much except from the beginning of the story, when she feels that vacationing in Florida is not safe because of an escaped convict, called the misfit. The grandmother being self-centered and arrogant is proof from her demands she makes to her son while they are driving in Georgia to their
...she has also lost the foundation of her identity, her leg. She is faced with the realization that she has been naïve all along. In her pattern of being quick to make assumptions to build her own self esteem, Joy-Hulga has not used her intelligence in a socially beneficial way.
The Grandmother is a bit of a traditionalist, and like a few of O’Connor’s characters is still living in “the old days” with outdated morals and beliefs, she truly believes the way she thinks and the things she says and does is the right and only way, when in reality that was not the case. She tends to make herself believe she is doing the right thing and being a good person when in actuality it can be quite the opposite. David Allen Cook says in hi...
Joy-Hulga and Dee-Wangero share the same motive and reasoning for changing their names, to gain autonomy while changing themselves. Joy changes her name to Hulga because it is ugly like her disposition and completely opposite of her given name. Joy-Hulga is not only trying to anger her mother, but also attempt to change herself. When Joy-Hulga turns twenty-one, she immediately leaves home and changes her name in an “attempt to redirect her life,” without telling her mother until after she does so (Feeley 236). Joy changes her name to Hulga, which Mrs. Hopewell is certain that she only chose because it was the “ugliest” name she had come across “in any language” (O’Connor 190). Joy chooses the name Hulga at first because of “its ugly sound” but then perceives it as one of her “major triumphs” (190). Joy-Hulga successfully changes her name, displeases her mother, and reestablishes herself. Conversely, Dee changes her name to Wangero to rebel against her heritage and...
The grandmother is based on conventional Southern women. She dresses in her Sunday best so that noone would be mistaken as to her status as a lady, an issue at the heart of every true Southern woman. She related stories of old mansions and of the little ‘pickaninny’ by a door. This was not a racial comment because for it to be there would have to be an intent to insult an African American and there was not. This was written to further convey the notion of her embodying all the true characteristics of Southern women, including their adherence to devout Christianity.
The Grandmother often finds herself at odds with the rest of her family. Everyone feels her domineering attitude over her family, even the youngest child knows that she's "afraid she'd miss something she has to go everywhere we go"(Good Man 2). Yet this accusation doesn't seem to phase the grandmother, and when it is her fault alone that the family gets into the car accident and is found by the Misfit, she decides to try to talk her way out of this terrible predicament.
In the beginning of the story the negative characteristics of the grandmother are revealed. She is portrayed as being a very egocentric person. The grandmother is very persistent about getting her way. She appears to be very insensitive of the feelings of the other family members. She consistently tries to persuade the family to go to Tennessee rather than to Florida. Also, she rebelliously took the cat with her on the trip when she knew the others would object. As a result of her selfishness the family had to make a detour to stop and see the house that she insisted upon visiting.
...h. On the other hand, arrogance stifles one’s growth by shutting out different perspectives. One is left with nothing except what one started with; one’s mind becomes a closed box of stifling inflexibility or a Pandora’s box of anger and blame. Sometimes arrogance leads to a fate like the one Georgiana and Aylmer experienced in Hawthorne’s short story.
Hulga’s birth name was Joy. When Joy/Hulga was 21, she wanted to show her mother she was in control by changing her name. Elizabeth Hubbard states that Hulga, “triumphs in her self-naming not only because it enables her to gain a sense of power over her mother, but also because she feels she as in some sense created herself” (58). Furthermore, Hulga knew there was nothing her mother could do about it. However, Hulga is not in control by changing her name, this was an act of rebellion against her mother. Changing her name did not stop Hulga’s mother from calling her Joy. One scholar states,“Despite everything she has done to break free and create herself as a figure of powerful will, she also continues to be the child her mother lost” (Arbery 45). Therefore, Hulga has lost control once again.
The following day the family heads off to Florida. Another major point of irony happens as the story revolves around the grandmothers traditional southern values of respect for other people; especially elders, respect for your home and country. At the same moment as the grandmother is lecturing her grand kids about respecting their home state she sees a young Negro boy and says: “Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!” (Pg 208). Her hypocrisy becomes evident as she wants the family to do what she says not what she does.
Joy/Hulga, as the story?s main character, is the singly most significant character to the themes of this story. She is characterized as brilliant and academically sophisticated, yet naïve to the feelings and motivations of others. Ironically, Hulga has a Ph.D. in philosophy, yet she has a very narrow view of her world and no insight into other people?s true character. This contrast in Hulga?s character is the topic of one of the story?s themes: academic knowledge is not to be confused with common sense.
Egoism is the philosophical concept of human self-interest and the relationship between ethics, altruism, and rationality (Robbins). Psychological egoism and ethical egoism are the two concepts or positions that explain how one is or ought to be motivated to obtain their self-interest. The difference between ethical and psychological egoism is that the former deals with how a person should act and the latter deals with a universal concept practiced by all. With the theory of psychological egoism, selfishness proves it to be false; thus, can true ethical egoism be possible?
Joy Hopewell is the name given to Hulga by her mother and father when she was a baby. This name brings to mind a person who looks on the brighter side of things and doesn’t let things discourage her. In the readers mind this name may perhaps bring about the image of a teacher or someone who works with children in a well light happy place. It is also a softer more vulnerable name, which may have been O’Conner’s intent in using the name Joy. In the story Joy changes her name to Hulga Hopewell because of the fact that she feels it better suits her personality. During her childhood Hulga had an accident in which her leg was shot off of her body; therefore, she has to wear a wooden leg that is rather bulky so by having the name Hulga it helps her to deter many people from asking questions or trying to get too close to her. Due to this accident Hulga becomes a brooding person, not very fond of company and entertainment. The name Hulga brings to mind a rather large Swedish woman who could probably break a man in half. It is a brooding name and awkward on ...
Joy/Hulga has two items that are used alternately to describe her, the eyeglasses that counter her weak eyes and are a sign of her intellectuality, and the wooden leg that she wields through sound and appearance as a weapon against her mother’s solicitude. When Manley Pointer removes her glasses and steals her wooden leg, she is left totally weak and vulnerable. The Bible salesman himself uses the illusion of Bibles as a symbol. He has claimed to have a suitcase full of Bibles to sell, but his moral laxness is revealed when he opens the case to reveal two Bibles, one of which has a hidden
...ated and had a Ph.D. in Philosophy. She could not call her daughter a schoolteacher, a nurse, or a chemical engineer and that bothered her. These people and episodes in Joy's life made her a very miserable person. They made her hate all that surrounded her, which included flowers, animals, and young men. This is why Joy changes her name to Hulga when she was twenty-one years old. She believed the name represented her as an individual. The name was fierce, strong, and determined just like her. The name reminded her of the broad, blank hull of a battleship. Joy felt the name reflected her inside and out. It separated her from the people who surrounded her that she hated the most.
In chapter nine of Messages, assertiveness training is presented as a way “to express your feelings, thoughts, and wishes, and to stand up for your legitimate rights without violating the rights of others.” (McKay, Davis, Fanning, 2009, p. 125) According to McKay, Davis, and Fanning (2009), “assertiveness is a social behavior that can be learned” (p.125) Assertiveness that is presented in a way that is used to express ‘your’ feelings and not necessarily to interpret someone else’s connects directly with the single contingency method. As assumptions number four of the skills and tools model of communication states that communication skills are trainable like motor skills, assertiveness skills such as passiveness, aggressiveness, and assertiveness are presented in a way that may be taught to use in appropriate situations to depict your feelings and your wishes. The book differentiates between a skill that is similar to a personality trait, and assertiveness that can be acquired, which contradicts assumption number four because it suggests that learning to communicate is similar to learning jumping jacks. It also specifies that assertiveness is used to initiate your own message instead of another’s reaction.