Joy-Hulga In Flannery O Connor's Good Country People
The physical impairments of Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" illustrate a deeper meaning of Joy-Hulga's handicaps. Joy-Hulga's heart condition, artificial leg and poor eyesight symbolize her inner impairments of emotion, intellect and spiritual capabilities. By including these impairments, it shows how Joy-Hulga really is as a person and the rationality behind what she believes in.
The heart condition and artificial leg symbolize the inner emotional detachment she has to her family and herself. Mrs. Hopewell describes Joy-Hulga as "bloated, rude and squint-eyed" and even despite these characteristics, Joy-Hulga's mother still continues to show her love and compassion (O'Connor 558). Yet Joy-Hulga lacks compassion for others and returns "this affection with exasperation and disgust", according to Kate Oliver from University of Central Florida ( 234). Joy-Hul does not show any positive emotions throughout the story, which help prove how she treats people. Secondly, Oliver states that, "[Joy-Hulga] emotionally
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Since the hunting accident, Joy-Hulga has proclaimed herself as a atheist; she refuses to allow her mother who is a Christian have her Bible in the general living area. Oliver explains how Joy-Hulga has "replaced these missing items with an artificial leg and an artificial belief" due to the "nothing" that Joy-Hulga worships throughout the story (234). The "nothing" she worships comes from the "philosophy of nothing" according to Oliver (236). Joy-Hulga sees philosophy as her religion and her safe haven. With philosophy she believes she can outsmart Manley Pointer and seduce him. However, this is not the case because Manley Pointer was able to deceive her and strip her of her only belief system which is her artificial leg. He does this by getting her to show him how to take it off. Therefor she can no longer move around and is left
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1242 Words | 5 PagesThere is a common saying of “two sides to the same coin” that has been used by individuals to describe how one person, place, or idea may seem to be one entity, but in reality is another. This idea that there are two different sides of the same idea is considered irony which helps create a comedic tone in the situation. In the context of the short story, “Good Country People,” by Flannery O’Connor, many of the characters are described as being “good country people,” as the title indicates. Characters such as Hulga and Manley Pointer, two of the main characters in the short story, each have an initial identity that carries them throughout the story until new information is discovered by the end of the narrative. This new information creates
Situational Irony In Manley Pointer
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Redemption In Flannery O Connor's Good Country People
756 Words | 4 PagesJoy’s mother, Mrs. Hopewell, states that it is hard to think of her daughter as an adult, and that Joy’s prosthetic leg has kept her from experiencing “any normal good times” that people her age have experienced (O’Connor 3). Despite the fact that Joy has no experience with people outside of her home, Joy has contempt and spite around her mother and acquaintances alike. In fact, when Joy changed her name to Hulga, she considered it “her highest creative act” and found a self-serving pleasure when the name brought dissatisfaction to her mother (O’Connor 3). When Joy expresses her disgust with her hometown, she also shares that she would much rather be “lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about” (O’Connor 4). Therefore, Joy suggests that the people and ideas that have surrounded her are inferior to her intelligence, and this
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Conflict In A Good Man Is Hard To Find
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