In Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”, O’Connor utilizes the analogy of good country people as a representation and critique of the ignorance of society. To do so, O’Connor presents the sense of superiority certain characters possess, resulting in them becoming ignorant to the truth of the world that is around them. In doing so, O’Connor challenges common perceptions of society in never questioning those who appear inferior to one, yet are still capable of unimaginable things. Through the examination of the characters of Mrs. Hopewell and Joy, or Hulga, and their interactions with good country people in Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer, superiority will be shown to cause one to become ignorant of the true nature of others; hence, leading …show more content…
Hopewell displays great ignorance. Adhering to her last name, Mrs. Hopewell sees the world through an optimistic lens, believing the world around her to be uncomplicated. In other words, Mrs. Hopewell hires Mrs. Freeman with the intent to allow her to be “into everything” after the warning from Mrs. Freeman’s previous employer (O’Connor 3). Therefore, Mrs. Hopewell decides to give Mrs. Freeman full responsibility; in turn, Mrs. Hopewell is able to use Mrs. Freeman “in… a constructive way” (O’Connor 3). Nevertheless, the point that Mrs. Hopewell does not appreciate is the necessity of Mrs. Freeman to be in others “business”, or life, as well, not just in regards to the job (O’Connor 3). In other words, Mrs. Hopewell does not recognize the fact that Mrs. Freeman desires to know everything about Mrs. Hopewell’s life, instead Mrs. Hopewell perceives the lower class Mrs. Freeman as just desiring to work hard; hence, Mrs. Hopewell’s sense of superiority causes her to become ignorant of Mrs. Freeman’s true intentions, alike to …show more content…
Throughout the work, O’Connor entices one to question others and to refrain from coming to regard such others through faulty stereotypical images that come from a place of superiority and ignorance. While the work does indeed illustrate an example that is quite hyperbolic in its representation, the truths in the representation; however, are not without importance. At last, society can take hints from O’Connor due to the fact that as individuals, it is habit to view matters from distance as Mrs. Hopewell does when she sees Manley from the mountains, when a closer inspection reveal all that had been hidden from
What is the relationship between the self and religious influence? Flannery O’Connor explores the tensions between fulfilling the self’s needs in the face of religion. After a great deal of religious influence, the self is likely to rebel (even to the extent of committing horrible misdeeds). At the point in the novel depicted in the above passage, young Tarwater is in conversation with a supposedly evil voice that comes to him after his zealous great uncle’s death.
The story “Good Country People” is based around four very different characters, and discusses the everyday objectives that they face. The main character Hulga is the well-educated atheist daughter of Mrs. Hopewell. Hulga who suffers from a deformity has a wooden leg and doesn’t really have much of a life outside of the farm. Mrs. Hopewell is a judgmental overbearing mother pushing her daughter to be something’s she’s not.
The concealment of a deeper meaning through the use of irony is a powerful tool that can be utilized to bring about a greater impact to the actual meaning of what was intended. The use of irony is more common than it is thought to be, thus resulting in an incorrect use of the language device. In the article “Word police: irony & ironic” it is stated, “People routinely use without knowing what they mean. No one seems to use the dictionary anymore--and thus they end up sounding ignorant. ”(1).
For the vast majority of the public, the Grandmother in Flannery O’Conner’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find may seem, by all accounts, to be dissimilar in relation to the Misfit, yet in this exposition, their characters will be comparable in their religious thoughts and principles. The Grandmother is a character quite striking on her own, and O’Conner’s is able to bring her more to life with the characters that she writes to interact with the Grandmother. She is a mother, a religious woman, who is not afraid to speak her mind. She holds high standards for her family, calling out her son for wanting to take them down to Florida where the Misfit has been known to be, she is critical of her daughter-in-law, and even her own grandchildren she chastises.
They were good country people” Don’t judge a book by its cover is someone people all their life starting from them being small children. The question that lies is does society truly follow the morals they set from an early age. In the story “Good Country People” they trust a man they just met because of how he displayed his morals to be. It shows how society is likely to accept a person who fits a mold rather than one who doesn’t. Judgment is a funny thing, it is both a good and bad thing.
Ignorance and Guilt as Reactions to Incontrovertible Changes in O’Connor’s and Cheever’s Short Stories The short stories “the Swimmer” by John Cheever and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Connor deal with the day to day lives of ordinary characters and follows their development through several activities and events. While short, the stories show a clear development in the lives of the protagonists. Some of these developmental changes are incontrovertible and alter their lives and the lives of those around them for the worse.
Hypocrisy, the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behaviour does not conform. Asa hawks displays this well throughout Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, and so does the grandmother from “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”. We meet Asa in the beginning of the book who claims to be “blind” and is a preacher with a bastard daughter named Lily Sabbath. The Grandmother from “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” sees herself as a very superior character. She views herself as a very strong woman and believes that her morals a very strong as well, but what she does not understand is that her self-centredness causes her to be a hypocrite and the end result was her death.
Therefore, one comes to the realization that Jeanette’s prosperous life does not come from love and encouragement, but instead is influenced by her
The main character in the short story, "Good Country People" written by Flannery O'Conner, is a thirty-two-year-old woman named Hulga. This intense character withdraws from the physical world into a world of intelligence due to a hunting accident that left her with a wooden leg. She looks down on other folks for not being highly intellectual. Manley Pointer, a bible salesman, uses Hulga's pride to profit over sexual favors and her wooden leg. I once read a quote by Denise Mina where she said, "I think the negative traits are what make us love other human beings, the foibles, and the flaws.
Turpin and the grandmother’s character, Flannery O’Connor made them very hypocritical and made sure her readers would notice it. The two women’s behavior came off in a way that suggested they had higher standards and were above everybody they encountered. Grandmother believes that where you stand in the social class depends on your blood and the family you were born into. Mrs. Turpin judged others and their place in the social class by whether they owned land or a home, and by their race, “Sometimes Mrs. Turpin occupied herself at night naming the classes of people.” (pg. 416)
O’Connor presents this truth through the use of irony. The title Good Country People suggests that O’Connor is about to present a tale, in which the characters are exceptional people whose behavior the reader can potentially learn from to better his/her own life. However, Good Country People is infused with characters who display, so-called “good” traits, on the surface. Yet, an in-depth analysis of each character clearly
Throughout 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.
Flannery O'Connor's stories gave the idea of what she wanted to show, which was to show humor with a violent twist. She wanted to be able to change her stories which made her write in a different way. For instance, her story “ Good Country people”, showed irony as well. There was a part where Mrs. Freeman said “ Some can't be that simple. . I know I never could.
When reading a few of Flannery O’Connor’s stories, one cannot help but make a connection with her intensive stories and those of a television show. Both take mostly everyday people and exaggerate them into an absurd nature. Her stories and television shows use shock factors to draw in readers and viewers, respectively. While television shows tend to vary in themes and messages, Flannery O’Connor’s short stories tend to be focused on a few limited messages and themes. Television shows are mostly mindless channels of entertainment, Flannery O’Connor uses her characters not only to entertain, but to also cause readers to reflect inward and think.
Humans, by their very nature, become egocentric. People tend to think of themselves as more important than they really are and look down upon others. In Flannery O’Connor’s short stories this part of human nature is explored and the egocentric people receive their comeuppance. The process of dispelling this aspect of humanity often involves violence. In Flannery O’Connor’s work, violence is the unexpected bearer and path to grace, disillusionment, and salvation.