Literary Analysis from Two Stories: Conflict The two stories share a common theme of conflict particularly from a personal level. In the short story by O’Connor “Good Country People” takes a keen interest in the personal convictions and perception of Hulga world. The reality of her internal conflict regarding her identity is witnessed through the turn of events and her attitudes towards life. All these project the war going on within her. On the other hand, the poem “blood” by Naomi is an expression of the personal anxieties and fears evading in her inner world regarding her identity in a foreign land. It is amazing how both authors try to reach a common ground by the end of their narrations about the main characters personal battles in understanding …show more content…
Her wildness is definitely a result of her wooden leg tramping, change of name and unappealing clothing. She comes out as ugly; it would be better understandable suppose she were a teenager, but a thirty-two year old with a PhD in philosophy, her attitude stinks. She is very childish, ridiculous, haughty and pathetic at the same time. Bodily deformed, she resolves to the mind life; she is strongly convinced that she has empowered herself to rise beyond average human illusions of the significance of physical beauty and bodily health. Evidently her psyche, even her body, has undergone severe damage. Both of these are ironically connected to the self identity crisis she goes through unaware. She will later realize the personal identity crisis in both with regards to who she really is and her faith as well (Flannery, …show more content…
When Mrs. Hopewell reads one of Joy’s books especially the passage on nihilism, the reader notes that it is highlighted with a blue pencil. Similarly, Pointer arrives at the house dressed in blue suit and in opening her valise inside the barn the author describes the lining as blue same as the contraceptive box (Dermot, 2013.) As is common in Flannery short stories, eyes remain a crucial symbol in her narratives. In this narrative, eyes are used to disclose that people often believed to be “good country people” by Mrs. Hopewell are ironically the exact opposite. Manley eyes are described as violent as he is sidetracked by Hulga’s detached wooden leg “every now and then the boy. His eyes like two steel spikes, would glance behind him where the leg stood.” (Flanner O’Connor’s stories,
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
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” explores the consequences of hypocrisy and gullibility. O’Connor shows how this terrible combination of hypocrisy and gullibility can affect average families. She intergrades strict Roman Catholic upbringing into all of her character flaws. Every character in the story believes that they are on a higher moral ground, but none of them leads an ethical life. When in actuality, they are all hypocrites that claim they have the honor and higher moral values than they actually do. Throughout the story, the men illustrate the only receptive hypocrisy that is displayed, and the gullibility that is illustrated is by the women.
"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.
One’s attitude toward the world and life in general often proves self-destructive. Flannery O’Connor, in her short story, “Good Country People,” uses a variety of rhetoric devices such as symbolism, characterization, and irony to portray how a nihilistic philosophy of life can ultimately lead to ruin. She depicts how people tend to stereotype in ways that prevent them from thinking or seeing clearly, and how it can ultimately lead to devastating consequences.
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.
Eyes in “The Displaced Person” tend to be illustrated with violent terms. The eyes are harsh and very rarely are they described softly; Mrs. McIntyre has eyes like “steel or granite,” characters’ gazes often “pierce,” and “icy blue eyes” and other similar descriptions are common.
“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.
“Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behavior does.” While it is unknown who first said this quote, it holds the undeniable truth that being religious does not necessarily make you a good person. There are many religious people who have committed horrible acts and there are many secular people who have worked to make the world a better place. The character Manley Pointer in the story Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor is a prime example of a supposed religious person who has many immoral qualities.
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.
By definition joy means a great feeling of pleasure and happiness. In Mary Flannery O'Connor's short story Good Country People, Joy Freeman was not at all joyful. Actually, she was the exact opposite. Joy's leg was shot off in a hunting accident when she was ten. Because of that incident, Joy was a stout girl in her thirties who had never danced a step or had any normal good times. (O'Connor 249). She had a wooden leg that only brought her teasing from others and problems in doing daily activities. Joy was very rude as well. In the story it speaks of her comments being so rude and ugly and her face so glum that her mother's boss, Mrs. Hopewell, would tell her if she could not come pleasantly than for her to not come at all. (O'Connor 249).
A reader might easily conclude that the most prominent social issue presented in The Bluest Eye is that of racism, but more important issues lie beneath the surface. Pecola experiences damage from her abusive and negligent parents. The reader is told that even Pecola's mother thought she was ugly from the time of birth. Pecola's negativity may have initially been caused by her family's failure to provide her with identity, love, security, and socialization, ail which are essential for any child's development (Samuels 13). Pecola's parents are able only to give her a childhood of limited possibilities. She struggles to find herself in infertile soil, leading to the analysis of a life of sterility (13). Like the marigolds planted that year, Pecola never grew.
The organization of The Bluest Eye by season rather than the conventional chapter by chapter narrative suggests a cyclic occurrence, one of repetitive angst and in many ways irony. Pecola Breedlove’s life is a reflection of these seasons, the latter often being oxymoronic in relation to the actual chain of events. Each season connoted different aspects of Pecola's life and was often times the antithesis of her mere existence.