Good Country People By Flannery O Connor
In "Good Country People," by Flannery O'Connor, there are four distinct characters, each with their own opinions and morals. Mrs. Hopewell categorizes her hired help, Mrs. Freeman, and a traveling Bible salesman named Manley Pointer as "good country people." However, the term "good country people" takes on various meanings throughout the story. Mrs. Hopewell believes that she and her daughter Joy—who has adopted the name Hulga—are superior to everyone else. In contrast to their rural neighbors, they are educated and sophisticated. According to Mrs. Hopewell, being good implies treating people nicely. She also believes that adopting a positive outlook on life is crucial. Joy, on the other hand, has a unique perspective on goodness. She sees …show more content…
Hopewell refers to Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer as "good country people," she means it in a superficial sense. To her, they are pleasant individuals who don't cause trouble or stir up drama like some of their neighbors do. However, both Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer have ulterior motives that reveal their true nature. Mrs. Freeman is nosy and manipulative; she enjoys gossiping about others behind their backs while pretending to be friendly to their faces. She uses her knowledge of other people's business to gain power over them or get what she wants from them. Manley Pointer initially presents himself as a devout Christian who wants to save souls by selling Bibles door-to-door. He manages to charm Joy into going on a walk with him where he reveals his true intentions - seducing her for his own pleasure while stealing her prosthetic leg as a trophy. Joy/Hulga's world view contrasts sharply with her mother's ideas of goodness and kindness towards others because she doesn't believe in God or any higher power that would dictate morality. She sees the world as a bleak, meaningless place where nothing has any inherent value or purpose. For her, being "good" means rejecting societal expectations and living according to her own desires regardless of what others
Joyce Carol Oates 'Story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'
181 Words | 1 PagesThe line comes from Flannery O'Connor's story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". In the story, the author portrays the grandmother as a self-centered woman who is more concerned with appearing good than being good. She eventually breaks down when she and her family unexpectedly
Manley And Hulga Chapter Summary
353 Words | 2 PagesThey kiss somewhat more and Manley at last takes Hulga 's leg. She gets furious, however Manley declines to return it. He opens up his Bible to uncover it 's holding bourbon and cards; things being what they are he is a trick craftsman and Manley Pointer isn 't his genuine name. Hulga gets angrier with him, yet Manley packs up his stuff and discloses to her that, in spite of her instruction, he, a basic book of scriptures businessperson, figured out how to trick her. He at that point keeps running off with her leg, abandoning her powerless in the
Summary Of Good Country People And Revelation By Flannery O Connor
1744 Words | 7 PagesThis breakdown in secular knowledge is revealed through Hulga’s loss of her glasses and her artificial leg, the two symbols of her intellectual acumen. Although Hulga claims to “see through to nothing’” and has “taken off our blindfolds,” she only possesses a nonspiritual vision (O’Connor 287-288). When Pointer takes her glasses she does not notice, but when her artificial leg is seized she “felt entirely dependent on him” and “stopped thinking all together” (O’Connor 289). The glasses and the artificial leg are both things that Hulga takes pride in, but they also prove to be symbols of her vulnerability. Thus, now that Hulga no longer has the glasses to only see the secular world and the artificial leg to stand on her own, she is ready to experience her epiphany.
Does Mrs. Hopewell's Use Of Christian Policies In The Red Scare
962 Words | 4 PagesHis manipulation changes her perspective and she believes he could not commit a bad act. On the contrary, she believes her atheist daughter Joy could commit a bad act. Pointer takes Mrs. Hopewell's innocent belief between good and evil to ironically manipulate her to believe he holds good intentions. Communists hold the capability to use this illustration of irony to hide their intentions similar to Manley
Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy Sparknotes
496 Words | 2 PagesThe theme in this novel is to be honest and be kind to others. Don't let things that people say hurt you and don't let people bring you down. Turner and Lizzie are good examples of being kind and nice. This novel is a great example of how people can be treated and how people shouldn’t be treated.
Irony In Mrs. Hulga's Good Country People
960 Words | 4 PagesLastly Mrs. Freeman the nosey tenant and Manley Pointer a quick talking salesmen, that will try to swindle people out of more than their money are just some of the examples of everyday “Good Country People.” The story of “Good Country People” is full of irony as well as the characters and their names along with the roles
Makes Me Wanna Holler By Nathan Mccall
1142 Words | 5 PagesMakes Me Wanna Holler The book Makes Me Wanna Holler is an autobiography by Nathan McCall. Nathan McCall grew up in pourtsmouth,Virginia. Nathan McCall was a smart kid growing up in a close protective family in a black working class neighborhood. The book is about Nathan McCall life and the decisions he made.
What Are The Similarities Between The Lottery And Good Country People
1064 Words | 5 PagesHulga is skeptical and believes she is superior to everyone else around her. One day, a seemingly innocent and naive Bible salesman named Manley Pointer comes to visit Hulga and her mother. Hulga is initially skeptical of Manley, but he manages to gain her trust and invites her on a walk. They end up in a secluded barn, where Manley reveals his true intentions and steals Hulga's wooden leg, leaving her stranded.
Examples Of Nihilism In Good Country People
949 Words | 4 PagesPeople who put full confidence in potentially harmful philosophies without exploring the full ramifications, will end up in ruin. In "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, Hulga possesses a nihilistic view, but is destroyed when the real world example of her beliefs confront her. Joy Hopewell is a well educated woman in her early thirties. She is described by her mother as "bloated, rude, and squint-eyed" (184). As a consequence to a hunting accident, she must always use a prosthetic leg.
Southern Gothic Literature Research Paper
1548 Words | 7 PagesThese are deep flaws which are very common in characters of southern gothic literature. If it was not for her condition, Joy “would be far from these red hills and good country people. She would be in a university lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about” (Good Country People pg. 276). Joy later on changes her name to Hulga as a reflection of both her physical appearance and as a reflection of her soul. This alienation, which is almost a necessity in writing southern gothic literature.
Good Country People Comparative Essay
543 Words | 3 PagesWe even see this theme again in Good Country People. Hulga’s pessimistic view of the world is central to the story, allowing her to quickly judge the salesman for what he truly is when he pulls a flask out from inside the bible. This reoccurring theme, concerning our background and the way we judge people, must have been very important to O’Connor. Skillfully, O’Connor knits the theme into both short stories, miraculously basing the entire plot and characters around this central
How Does Flannery O Connor Use Physiognomy
1117 Words | 5 PagesThe artificial leg that Hulga “was as sensitive about the artificial leg as a peacock about his tail” symbolizes her vulnerability and her dependence on things despite what she may think, but from this it would be nearly impossible to guess that Manley was
A Good Man Is Hard To Find By Flannery O Connor
690 Words | 3 PagesHulga is a spinster in the story. She was single and in her early-thirties. Later in the story we learn Manley Pointer is not the “good” country person Hulgas originally thought. Manley Pointer and Hulga go to the loaft inside a barn close by. While inside the barn Maley Pointer asked Hulga to show him how to
Situational Irony In Manley Pointer
82 Words | 1 PagesJoy/Hulga affects a cynical façade, claiming not to believe in anything. (As she tells Manley, "I don 't have illusions. I 'm one of those people who sees through to nothing.") Yet by the end of the story, Joy/Hulga 's carefully constructed façade is shattered; through the dramatic irony in her absence of self-awareness to the situational irony pervading the final scene, O 'Connor ultimately reveals Joy/Hulga as an innocent who is shocked when she witnesses the beliefs she once espoused as embodied in Manley
Redemption In Flannery O Connor's Good Country People
756 Words | 4 PagesThroughout much of O’Connor’s works, there is this idea that a character needs redemption, as Dorothy Walters suggests in her book, Flannery O’Connor. Walters also states when these characters are enlightened, it is often “through catastrophe.” In O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” this salvation through violence occurs for Joy. Through the evaluation of Joy’s downfalls in character and her misinterpretation of Manley Pointer, Joy has a horrific experience that will forever change her perspective and reform her overconfidence. Before Joy/Hulga even meets Manley Pointer, readers understand that she has a lack of experience in the real world.
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