C3C Todd Millard Captain Jessica Hellman Close Reading Essay # 2 14 April 2016 Good Country Trash “Good Country People” is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor. O’Connor writes with a unique style that makes the reader think on a deeper level about her reading. In this short story the title, “Good Country People,” is repeated over ten times. While it is not uncommon that a title is repeated in its text, the fact that it is repeated so often makes the reader wonder if it was on purpose. “Good Country People” is both the title of the story but also influences most of the action in the story as well. This text’s formal dimensions control the action in the story and give the reader a deeper meaning to try to understand. Throughout …show more content…
If Manley is good country people he can be trusted and would never think of taking advantage or harming her. Since good country people are uneducated, Hulga believes that she can take advantage of Manley and help him reach a “deeper understanding of life.” (GCP, 280) This does not happen, however. Manley is not this slow, undeveloped, mind. While he may seem simple to Mrs. Hopewell, he ends up taking advantage of Hulga. The fact that the title is repeated multiple times throughout the story gives it a new meaning. “Good country people” is a phrase that is easy to spot and every time I reread the text I question how “good” these people really are. Good country people are not supposed to be capable of taking advantage of the “wealthier” class and they are supposed to be these small, vulnerable, uneducated people. Several times throughout the story, however, this notion is inaccurate. Mrs. Hopewell doesn’t realize what Manley was capable of. Manley described to her how “simple” he was. In a way, he has her fooled into thinking he couldn’t do any harm and that he really is a good person. Obviously, Manley can’t be that “good” of a person if he just took advantage of her daughter. He has Mrs. Hopewell believing that he can be trusted because she believes that he is just a “simple,” harmless, boy. Both Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga are blind to the true nature of the world. There is both good and evil and everything is not as “simple” as it may seem. Mrs. Hopewell may finally start seeing the world for how it is when Mrs. Freeman says, “Some can’t be that simple,” she said. “I know I never could.” (GCP, 291) Hopewell has been using Mrs. Freeman throughout the entire story because she thinks that she is “good country people.” Mrs. Hopewell may finally realize that good country people are not as simple as she thought. Also, throughout the story, Mrs. Freeman is able to
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.
“Good Country People” is a story about Joy Hopewell, a very well educated young woman living in the rural south. Joy lost a leg in a hunting accident when she was ten and since then had been forced to wear a wooden replacement. She also had a weak heart and it was this affliction that forced her to remain amongst these “good country people” whom she considered to be intellectual inferiors. Though she had great confidence in her intelligence she had very little self-esteem. Joys’ handicap made her feel ugly, so ugly that much to her mothers’ dismay, she had her name legally changed to the ugliest one she could think of, Hulga. One day a traveling bible salesman named Manley Pointer made a sales call and ended up having dinner with the family.
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.
O’Connor, Flannery. “Essays and Letters On ‘Good Country People’” Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 233-234.
He has qualities of “good country people” by selling bibles and “not attending college but devotes his life to Christian service” (178). His appearance and name is a great symbol that signifies of something that is not real which connects to Hulga’s name. Manley’s name has an impact towards Hulga because his name signifies a manly figure which is a missing part in Hulga’s life. On the other hand his last name Pointer symbolizes great divulge of something amazing that will stand out in Hulga’s way. However his name is seen as a false and in reality symbolizes the emptiness of a male presence and the revelation that her life consists of only falsities. O’Conner also used a great mirror description between a bible and his name. Manly pulled out two bibles though one “was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whisky, a pack of cards and a small blue box with printing on it” (192). O’Conner used this hallow bible filled with several profane and contrary items as a symbolism to expose the meaning of Manley’s true self character. Manley is seen as a true nihilist, and through his name, hollow bible and false Christian morals he has revealed himself towards Hulga, as a true meaning of simply believing in nihilistic
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” is a masterfully written example of irony as a method of characterization. It is more than snark or satire. Flannery O’Connor uses characterization to give this short piece a deep emotional impact. When Manley Pointer leaves Hulga Hopewell in the barn loft, helpless and hopeless. He declares that she, “…ain’t so smart.” That he has been, “…believing in nothing even since [he] was born” just as he slips away. Here we see the full irony of the characters names. These titles hold multifaceted meanings and expose each characters failure to acknowledge themselves and others as they are, They prefer instead their cherished assumptions until the ugly truth escapes from sight.
O’connor, Flannery. "Good Country People" The Bedford Introduction To Literature, 5th ed. Ed, Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,1999. 393-406
O’Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People.” The Story and Its Writer. Charters, Ann. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2011. 662-676. Print.
Characterization is the most prevalent component used for the development of themes in Flannery O?Connor?s satirical short story ?Good Country People.? O?Connor artistically cultivates character development throughout her story as a means of creating multi-level themes that culminate in allegory. Although the themes are independent of each other, the characters are not; the development of one character is dependent upon the development of another. Each character?s feelings and behavior are influenced by the behavior of the others.
Beginning with Mrs. Hopewell, the title of the story comes from what she likes to call the poorer and less fortunate people that live off the land and work their whole lives just to hang on to some scrap of a life. This is how she views these people. She believes that they are good country people not a bad seed among them, that they are all eager to help out and bow in humility to the upper class. The gullible nature of Mrs. Hopewell betrays her true vision of a situation. She is one of those people who are all goody-goody to people who they view as less fortunate. She’s a person that commends or speaks for the people she knows nothing about. Altogether this is her true weakness that is taken advantage of by Manley Pointer. One of ...
A Good man is Hard to Find" focuses on Christianity being filled with sin and punishment, good and evil, belief and unbelief.
Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find is one of the most well-known short stories in American history. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a disturbing short story that exemplifies grace in extremity as well as the threat of an intruder. The story tells of an elderly grandmother and her family who embark on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother is a stubborn old woman with a low sense of morality. While on the trip, the grandmother convinces her son to take a detour which results in a broken down car and an encounter with a convicted fugitive, The Misfit. Although the grandmother pleads for mercy, The Misfit kills off the rest of her family. Through the grace she finds in her extreme circumstance, the grandmother calls The Misfit her own and implores him to spare her life. The Misfit does not oblige her and states after her death, “She would have been a good woman if it had been someone to shoot her every day of her life.” Through Flannery O’Connor’s disturbing and shocking display of the grandmother’s demise, she gives the reader a sense of the threatening power of an intruder and the idea of extreme situations bringing about a state of grace. The reason for such a powerful work may have resulted from Flannery O’Connor’s religious upbringing as well as the state of the nation at the time.
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.
O'Connor, Flannery. Good Country People. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, And Drama. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Longman. 2002. (247-261)