Flannery O’Connor short story, “Good Country People” tells the ironic story of two families living in the country without true devotion to any faith. One family, the Hopewells consist of a cliché loving mother, and am educated self-proclaimed atheist, Hulga. The other family, the Freemans consists of two daughter and a mother that likes to linger around the Hopewell household. Hulga however is the main focus of O’Connor’s story. Hulga, the reader learns has changed her name from Joy, to Hulga simply because it is a harsh and ugly name. As the story progresses another character enters, Manley Pointer, who presents himself to be the epitome of a good country person, selling bibles. Unfortunately, Hulga learns that Manley is anything but good,…
At first glance it would seem that Orwell’s ‘1984’ is completely without of hope. Everything is monitored, there is no freedom and the thought police are rampant and ruthless on though criminals. In such a seemingly decadent society it would seem impossible for hope to exist. However, throughout the text there are a few subtle symbols of hope; the most obvious of these is the “Golden Country” that Winston dreams of. It is described by Orwell as a “rabbit bitten pasture with a molehill here and there, with a slow moving stream nearby,” this is clearly a stark juxtaposition of the dirty, industrial society that exists in the “real world”. This utopia exists only in Winston’s subconscious, yet it reveals a lot about Winston. This “Golden Country” is what Winston is searching for, it illustrates that even though it would be nearly impossible to overthrow the party, the hope of this happening still lives on in his sub conscious. However, this dream is tainted by the presence of O’Brien, which makes us think that maybe this utopia is unattainable, and ultimately just a dream.…
For those who haven't read the book, its both an odd love story and a metaphor for American involvement in Vietnam. The hero, Fowler is a washed up, middle aged, English war correspondent, content with his opium pipe and his Vietnamese mistress, Phuong. His world is gradually disrupted by the arrival of an American covert operative named Pyle who is both a zealous ideologue and naïve optimists. Things get complicated when Pyle steals Phuong away from Fowler, yet attempts to remain friends with him. The normally indifferent Fowler soon becomes morally repulsed by Pyle's seemingly well intended terrorists activities, and gradually becomes…
In my opinion, Flannery O'Connor has decided to use “Good Country People” as the title of this short story because she wants it to be sarcasm. The title of the story is completely reverse to all the characters appearing in the story. All of them are not actually good country people at all. They are just some people who seem to be good. We can see how “Good Country People” is sarcasm by looking at each characters but in here I would like to give some examples of the characters that express the idea that “Good Country People” is real sarcasm.…
Good Country People is currently in third person perspective; the story would be a very different in tone and characteristics if written in Hulga’s perspective. At first reading Good Country People it is from the narrator’s point of view allowing you to understand everything that is going on with out the characters forcing a bias feeling or thought towards someone else. This objective type of writing allows the reader to think more about what they feel and interpret the information their way but looking at it through a character’s eyes you could see other sides. I think that looking through Hulga’s eye you would get a different tone and characteristics of another character. We would get a more irritated or disliked tone towards her mother.…
O'Connor's " Good Country People " is a story about the relationship between main character Joy who changes her name later and her mother Mrs. Hopewell, also people surrounding them. The other important characters are Mrs. Freeman who is hired by Mrs. Hopewell and Manley Pointer who deceits Joy by pretending "good country people".…
Flannery O’Connor in Good Country People writes about a girl named Joy. She lives with her mother, Mrs. Hopewell in a big house with the maid, Mrs. Freeman and her two daughters, Glynese and Carramae that nicknamed Glycerin and Caramel by Joy. Although, Joy lost her leg when she was ten due to hunting accident and wears prosthetic leg, she managed to finish her school and earns her PhD. That proves her as a smart thirty-two years old mature woman, yet Mrs. Hopewell still treats her as a child. The treatment makes Joy so upset and she legally changes her name into Hulga, the ugliest name she could think of to upset the mother. Later in the story, a character is introduced as a Bible salesman with made-up name of Manley Pointer. Looked as a decent…
This pride and arrogance are indubitably apparent, as she "...sometimes found herself thinking that the town belonged to her" (1), and she pretentiously considers her family to be of much greater importance than they truly are by "believing that" They wanted to put up a statue of Ethan Allen,...but it should have been a statue of my grandfather." (2) In reality, if the Strangeworth family was truly as important and influential to the town as Miss Strangeworth deems, the citizens would have most likely requested for a statue of her grandfather. Nonetheless, because of this misplaced arrogance, Miss Strangeworth takes responsibility for the town as if she were its protector.…
One way her mother would try to teach them a life lesson was by having them spell hard words. For example, in the book it says, “Spell ‘poinsettia,” Mother would throw out at me, smiling with pleasure. “Spell ‘sherbet.” The idea was not to make us whizzes, but, quite the contrary, to remind us---and I, especially, needed reminding---that we didn’t know it all just yet.” Another thing she would do was say there was a deer standing in the front hall, and when Dillard would say really she would reply “No. I just wanted to tell you something once without your saying I know.’”…
Scott Fitzgerald, both authors excoriate individuals who form opinions based solely on older traditions and mindsets. In “Good Country People,” Mrs. Hopewell, a middle-aged mother, assumes and concludes that she can trust a Bible salesman who stops at her door because he appears to be from the country. “...[Hopewell and her daughter] had had a nice visitor yesterday, a young man selling Bibles. ‘Lord,’ [Hopewell] said, ‘he bored me to death but he was so sincere and genuine I couldn’t be rude to him. He was just good country people, you know,’ she said, ‘—just the salt of the earth’” (O’Connor 12-13). As Hopewell discusses her encounter with the salesman, her preconceived notions of people reveal themselves; Hopewell assumes the salesman possesses innocent intentions simply because he is from the country and clearly devout in his faith, as seen by his profession. Hopewell’s old-fashioned mindset pushes her to invite a stranger into her home for dinner, which eventually leads to the salesman stealing from and taking advantage of Hopewell’s daughter, Hulga. Similarly, in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the repercussions that result from chauvinistic thinking through the extremely wealthy and entitled character, Tom Buchanan. Throughout the novel, Tom’s conservatism leads the other characters to ignore his statements altogether as they lose respect for him because of his…
The two short stories that are being discussed. “Good Country People” & “A Good Man Is Hard to Hard To Find”, is so twisted in a sense of false security. In which you believe there is some detail of good karma. These stories was created by a short story author named, Flannery O’ Connor. Author that was able to use different characters to display some faction of innocence in the world, as well as some evil in an underlying tone.…
In "Good Country People," Flannery O'Connor introduces the reader to Hulga Hopewell, a sullen thirty-two year old atheist, who embodies a complex mixture of unsympathetic and sympathetic traits. Hulga’s arrogant confidence that she is intellectually and morally superior to those around her characterizes her as unlikable and unsympathetic. She boldly wears her godless beliefs with little regard for offending those around her. As an illustration, she changes her beautiful name, Joy, to Hulga to spite her mother and considers the ugly name change "one of her major triumphs." She slyly manipulates Mrs. Freeman's rambling conversations to avoid answering her mother's questions about her interest in Manley Pointer, the phony Bible salesman.…
Flanner O’Conner’s “Good Country People” is a story that captivates the reader through her use of theme, imagery, and symbolism. Her main question is “what does it mean to be a good person?” In this story the meaning takes centers around how a “good person” leads a pious, Christian life. In contrasting the mindless gossip about “good country people”, O’Conner questions the significance of religious faith. O’Conner’s narrative style creates tension between the real world characters and the symbolic nature of their names, actions and words.…
In many instances, Mrs. Hopewell shows that she is incapable of reasoning or understanding the situations her daughter goes through and why. Mrs. Hopewell refuses to accept the fact that her daughter is no longer a young child anymore 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’ (O’Connor, 3). Mrs. Hopewell is too concerned about what others may think of her because of Hulga’s “not so normal life”, rather than trying to find ways to help her daughter adjust. It seems that Hulga never receives any positive feedback from her mother; all Hulga…
"The Graduate" is a great film, with Dustin Hoffman, playing Benjamin (Ben) Braddock, the epitome of the confused and isolated young adult male. Ben is confused about where his life is heading, he fumbles for an answer whenever one of his parents' friends asks him "what are you going to do next?" He stares mournfully into his fish tank, perhaps likening himself to the fish dwelling within it. He is trapped in this glass cube. This movie is for anyone who’s ever wondered what he or she are going to do with their future. Not a classic love story, “The Graduate” is a coming of age film. You can see that by the different types of love portrayed in the film, love of self, parental love, lust and finally near the end of the film, romantic love.…