O connor good country people. Analysis of 'Good Country People' by Flannery O'Connor 2022-10-12
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"Good Country People" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor that follows the character of Hulga, a highly educated but cynical and miserable woman who lives on a farm with her mother and father. Hulga, whose real name is Joy, has lost her faith in God and in humanity due to a childhood bout with polio that left her with a wooden leg. Despite her intelligence and education, she is deeply unhappy and feels disconnected from the people around her, particularly her mother and father, who she views as simple-minded and superficial.
Into this setting enters Manley Pointer, a charismatic and charming salesman who Hulga meets while he is selling Bibles door-to-door. Despite her initial suspicions of him, Hulga is drawn in by his smooth talk and seeming sincerity, and agrees to go on a date with him. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Manley is not the honest and good-hearted person he appears to be, but rather a con artist who is using Hulga's vulnerabilities and insecurities to manipulate her.
Through the character of Manley, O'Connor explores the theme of the dangers of superficial appearances and the importance of maintaining a sense of skepticism and caution when interacting with others. Manley is able to deceive Hulga and ultimately steal her wooden leg because she is so desperate for connection and affection that she is willing to overlook the warning signs and believe in his false facade. In contrast, Hulga's mother and father, who are initially skeptical of Manley, are able to see through his act and protect themselves from his scheming.
The story also touches on the theme of the tension between intellect and emotion, as Hulga's pride in her education and intellect leads her to dismiss the simple wisdom of her mother and father. Hulga sees herself as superior to the people around her, and this causes her to be isolated and unhappy. It is only when she is stripped of her wooden leg and forced to confront her own vulnerabilities and limitations that she is able to see the value of her family and the good country people who live around her.
Overall, "Good Country People" is a powerful and thought-provoking story that delves into complex themes of identity, deception, and the importance of being able to see beyond appearances. O'Connor's writing is sharp and incisive, and the story is filled with memorable characters and moments that linger long after the final page is turned.
āGood Country Peopleā by Flannery OāConnor
Another was: that is life! Hulga keeps making it very clear that she does not believe in God throughout their time together. Hopewell that every year she grew less like other people and more like herself ā bloated, rude, and squint-eyed. When they reached the edge of the wood, he put his hand on her back again and drew her against him without a word and kissed her heavily. He is a true nihilist, and he shocks Hulga. His breath was clear and sweet like a child's and the kisses were sticky like a child's. His thoroughgoing nihilism, bereft of any virtue, shocks Hulga.
Flannery O'Connorās Stories āGood Country Peopleā Summary and Analysis
She claims to be a nihilist, believing in nothing, but she is inescapably here, and that means something. Do you ever look inside and see what you are not? He held it in front of her, but like one mesmerized, she did not move. They lie down and kiss in the loft, and after a while Manley demands that she tell him she loves him. O'Connor is crazy for this one. Hopewell would be in her red kimono with her hair tied around her head in rags. Hopewell could not imagine what they had said to each other, and she had not yet dared to ask. She thought of her still as a child because it tore her heart to think instead of the poor stout girl in her thirties who had never danced a step or had any normal good times.
Good Country People by Flannery OāConnor Plot Summary
And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too. Martin, 1969, Title page. Hopewell to realize that her child was thirty-two now and that for more than twenty years she had had only one leg. And she said such strange things! He caught and held back the long swaying blades of thorn vine until she had passed beyond them. This was one of Mrs. Her face remained expressionless but the color rose into her neck and she seemed to swallow it down with the next spoonful of egg.
Analysis of 'Good Country People' by Flannery O'Connor
Hulga is able to even though she has a wooden leg; in fact, she climbs up first to prove to Manley that she is not at a disadvantage. She had seduced him without even making up her mind to try. I think you're real sweet. She has run off from the world of simple, concrete things into the realm of the abstract. Hopewell would not for the world have smiled. She had a weak heart. She imagined that the two of them walked on the place until they came to the storage barn beyond the two back fields and there, she imagined, that things came to such a pass that she very easily seduced him and that then, of course, she had to reckon with his remorse.
Different expressions raced back and forth over her face. Freeman loves calling her by the name Hulga, because she relishes hearing ugly things. He had been crushed very badly, in fact, almost cut in two and was practically not recognizable. Freeman always managed to arrive at some point during the meal and to watch them finish it. Hopewell give her the details of the hunting accident, how the leg had been literally blasted off, how she had never lost consciousness. The two pink-speckled hillsides lay back against a dark ridge of woods. I also found the writing kinda hard to follow at times but I could still understand what was going on.
The boy was unscrewing the top of the flask. He came into the parlor and sat down on the edge of a straight chair and put the suitcase between his feet and glanced around the room as if he were sizing her up by it. She, of course, is shocked by this blunt immorality and rejects it. . Another incredible O'Connor story! His mother had got along the best she could by hard working and she had always seen that her children went to Sunday School and that they read the Bible every evening. Her name was really Joy but as soon as she was twenty-one and away from home, she had had it legally changed. Hopewell had to turn and face her in order to seem to be listening.
āGood Country Peopleā: Role of Religion and Critical Thinking: [Essay Example], 876 words GradesFixer
I'm as good as you any day in the week. Hopewell said absently, "is that the one who works in the garage? Yet she is profoundly tied to this world - her leg was blasted off in a hunting accident, so she hobbles around on a wooden prosthetic. The reason for her keeping them so long was that they were not trash. Hopewell would not for the world have smiled. It wasn't as funny as I thought it was supposed to be. Says instead of medicine. She was thinking that she would run away with him and that every night he would take the leg off and every morning put it back on again.
We are not our own light! However, this type of attitude without any faith in God is represented as leading to her downfall, since once she lets Manley take off her leg, she becomes extremely vulnerable. He offers her a drink of the whiskey, and Hulga is shocked. Hopewell could very well picture here there, looking like a scarecrow and lecturing to more of the same. Freeman are in the back pasture and as they watch him leave, Mrs. Before the Freemans she had averaged one tenant family a year.
Joy had made it plain that if it had not been for this condition, she would be far from these red hills and good country people. Hopewell who would have been incensed but when she and the girl happened to be out of the house together, she would say something and add the name Hulga to the end of it, and the big spectacled Joy-Hulga would scowl and redden as if her privacy had been intruded upon. At no time was she in any hurry to leave. It had certainly not brought her out any and now that she had it, there was no more excuse for her to go to school again. Stand up there and see what she could run up on.
