O Connor's Good Country People

O’Connor is a satirical writer who uses the stereotypes of Southern communities to bring out the reality of many towns in the South. Most of her stories are written in the times in which she was alive, so mostly the 40’s in Southern America. Her short stories give the grim and cruel aspects of Southern people that not many people think about the South. O’Connor to express her utter disgust of Southern façade’s in “Good Country People” uses symbols, themes, and use of diction in her title to dismiss typical southern stereotypes. Hulga, the daughter of Mrs. Hopewell, is everything opposite of a Southern Belle. Although her mother would love for her to be a definition of a true lady, she wants to cut anything tying her to the tyrannical clutches of her mother’s ideals of a lady. Hulga has a Ph.D. in philosophy and with her degree came her
Hulga’s leg to Mrs. Hopewell is the hindrance that cause Hulga to act against her wishes (270). Manly’s Valise is a reflection of himself, because at first it represents faith and morality just as Manly does in the beginning (273) as it is filled with bibles. But in the end when he goes to meet Hulga, the valise is empty (278), or as Hulga described it “The valise did not seem heavy today;”, symbolizing that his faith and morality have left as one of the bibles is hollowed and filled with condoms, whiskey, and pornographic cards. The valise symbolizes the hypocrisy of Christians, because they are the people who sin the most. In “Good Country People” there is a reoccurring theme of Appearances vs. Reality in which many of the characters are perceived differently than how they actually act. The way each of these characters present themselves to others is not true to how they are in a normal setting. Mrs. Hopewell for example presents herself to the