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Female gender roles in literature
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In the story “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, the readers are told a story of unrequited love between two adults. The story begins with a pair of mothers talking about their children, more specifically their daughters and their accomplishments. One of the mothers, Mrs. Freeman, talks about how one of her daughters is now married and expecting a child and her other daughter is doing her own thing in the world. The other mother, Mrs. Hopewell, talks about her only daughter, Joy and how she does considering the fact that she has a wooden leg. The story then moves over to Joy who now chooses to go by Hulga because she believes it will make her more unappealing to people. Hulga meets a bible salesman named Manley Pointer, who uses his
I chose to focus my midterm paper on the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. This short story was written by Flannery O’ Connor in 1953. This short story is about a typical family with their ideal issues. The family consists of a father Bailey, mother, eight-year- old boy John Wesley, young girl June Star, the baby, and the grandmother. The grandmother’s constant complaining easily annoys everyone in the family. She comes off as pushy, controlling, and whinny when she doesn’t get her way. The family is headed to Florida for a vacation, of course, the grandmother insists they should travel East towards Tennessee instead. She makes note of a newspaper article about The Misfit, an escaped convict traveling to Florida. The grandmother also
Hulga believes she has found the right guy. Hulga meets a Bible salesman named Manley Pointer who gives a vibe as good country man. Manly Pointer tells Hulga and her mother he’s from the country. Much like Hulga, Emily meets a northerner by the name of homer, who was a foreman. This is strange, because the Homer does not seem like the kind to take to Emily. With agreement to my statement Jim Barloon says “why did homer, a rowdy extrovert, take take up the spinsterly Emily.” Emily and Homer are seen around the town a lot as the narrator states, “we began seeing him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy” (102). this shows that they have been a couple for the time
When looking into works of literature, some stories seem to be similar to others. They can have a similar setting, point of view, theme, or sense of language and style. However, all of these points could be very different as well and could cover different theme or style. Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Country People” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” have some contrasting elements, such as their points of view and use of symbolism, but their similarities in the underlying theme, language, and the setting of these stories reveal how these two stories are impacted by education on both the individual and their family.
Everyday Use and Good Country People are short stories with similar themes. Can an attitude from one of the daughters have an effect on both the mother and daughter’s life? The Topic called my attention due to being the eldest daughter in my family. Dee and Momma link to the connection I have with my mother. Dee, the eldest daughter, is seen by momma as insubordinate. The same way I feel my mother sees me. Dee and Hulga change their names in order to prove a point. Joy changed her name as a tool to rebel against her mother, Mrs. Hopewell. Dee changed her name to express to Maggie and her mother a new culture, causing her mother to insinuate that Dee is rejecting her identity and heritage. Both relationships between
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.
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” is the tragic story of Joy, or Hulga. Hulga, in the attempt to seduce a supposedly simple-minded Bible salesman named Manley Pointer, ends up misjudging him and losing her leg. Throughout the story, the motivations for why Hulga pursues Manley, even when they are explicitly stated, are never quite clear. Why does Hulga attempt to seduce Manley? Why does she act the way she does in general? One might also ask what the motivation for doing something as insidious as what Manley does. By reading “Good Country People” in light of “vulgar” Marxism and Freudian psychoanalysis, one may open up and understand the actions of Hulga and Manley.
In "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" Flannery O'Conner writes about a family that most people can easily identify with. A trip to Florida is about to be undertaken by the family and the grandmother
Hulga is a perfect example of pride and vanity in “Good Country People.” She received a PhD in philosophy which leads her to believe she is better than everyone she is around. When Manley Pointer, a Christian man, came to
She believes that having faith in God is for the inferior “creatures” of the “Good People Country.” She claims that she is experienced and so, she does not need to have faith. She believes that there is no good or evil. On the other hand, Manley is a man of faith. Manley Pointer, the traveling Bible salesman, represents the Christian morality in the “Good People Country.” Manley uses his Christian faith to get the things that he need including food, money and Hugla. Manley seduces Hugla, but she claims that he does not appeal to her emotions. Hugla learns the hard way that there is evil when Manley took her leg and refused to give her back. She realizes that this world has both good and bad. Manleys’ Christian identity turns out to be fake. Manley seems to be a con artist who uses the Christian character to win not only sexual favors from Hulga but also her prosthetic leg. Hulga’s manner of dressing brings conflict between her and her mother. Mrs. Hopewell thinks that the dress her daughter is wearing is for a six-year old. This behavior shows that despite Hulgas’ Ph.D and changing her identity by name she still behaves like a small child. Joy’s name change to Hulga was also a cause of conflict between her and her mother. Mrs. Hopewell saw these actions as immature and rebellious. Mrs. Hopewell feels that her daughter pondered until she decided to give herself the ugliest name she
The short story “Good Country People” begins and we are introduced to Mrs. Hopewell, who owns a farm in Georgia that is ran with the assistance of her tenants, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman. Mrs. Hopewell's daughter, Joy, is thirty-two years old who lost her leg in a tragic childhood accident. Joy practices antitheism and has a Ph.D. in philosophy. She seems to have a hate towards her mother, and in an act of rebellion, Joy changed her name to "Hulga," the ugliest name Mrs. Hopewell can imagine for her daughter to ever have. The relationship between mother and daughter is not a healthy or common one. Mrs. Hopewell still sees her daughter as a child and Joy resents her mother for not accepting the woman that she is. Throughout the story the two bicker
Hopewell is Hulga’s mother, who still calls her joy. She is a divorced, single woman running a farm in southern United States in the 1950s. Mrs. Hopewell is astoundingly nice, but she is certainly not meek. On multiple occasions she lets us know she is a strong, independent and competent woman. Hulga is Mrs. Hopewell’s joy hence the original name of her daughter and she continues to call her by this name regardless of her daughter changing the name. And even though Hulga is hideous and a pouty brat her mother still loves her for the innocent little girl she used to be and does anything and everything to please her daughter. Mrs. Hopewell’s attitude to her worker Mrs. Freeman is condescending and patronizing. Also she is hypocritical towards Manley and tells Mrs. Freeman how much of a bore he was to her. Overall Mrs. Hopewell’s attitude towards her daughter, he worker and Manley Pointer is she is an elitist and she looks down upon all the people below
“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.
O’Conner believed that one must be shocked into salvation to be saved. Thus, Hulga’s trauma is the start of her journey to redemption. Ironically, Manley Pointer was used as an “agent of God” to change Hulga’s life even though he was lying when he said he has devoted himself to Christian service. The moment of truth for Joy occurs when she realizes she has been swindled and Pointer was only after her prosthetic. However, the fleeting feeling of belonging to someone and being completely surrendered has placed a new yearning in her heart. According to O’Conner’s beliefs, the path to salvation is not easy and it is marked by suffering and disaster, but the joy and hope that results is worth any pain along the way. Whether “redemption” is the right word or not, every person will have a moment in their life when they are stripped of control and must rely entirely on a constituent beyond their
In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor, we get an image of a mid-eighteenth century post war family from O’Connor’s well rounded use of literary devices. This family is taking a vacation from their home in Atlanta, Georgia to Florida, but in the midst of their callowness, find themselves not only on the road to Florida, but on their way to find themselves… at death’s front door.
"Good Country People" starts with the introduction of Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell. O'Connor's most blatant humor is found in the revealing of these two characters, a simple humor for simple people. Immediately, the reader begins chuckling at these two from a decided feeling of superiority over them. Their sacred cliches and gossip routine automatically make the reader want to put them both in the category of "good country people," which, in itself, is an ironic title in that it suggests an immediate air of superiority by bothering to judge a class of people that are generally considered to rest somewhere towards the bottom of society's social order. Clinton Throwbridge further supports this notion when he states, "The titles of many of Flannery O'Connor's short stories...