Joy-Hulga's Hierarchies In Flannery O Connor
Hierarchies have been prominent throughout human history. Whether it be in the great British Empire as its aristocracy or in post-Civil War America as its segregation policies, society has always attempted to and often succeeded with creating a pecking order that allowed the higher-ups to mistreat those below them without any sense of guilt. Flannery O’Connor incorporates these hierarchies within many of her narratives found in The Complete Stories and exhibits them through the mindsets and actions of main characters. The Partridge Festival, Good Country People, Everything That Rises Must Converge, and Revelation all feature main characters that believe they are innately better than those around them because of a hierarchy they have established …show more content…
Although the hierarchy that belongs to this story’s main character, Joy-Hulga, isn’t as polarized towards independence, it is very similar to Calhoun’s hierarchy because of her belief that so called ‘good country people’ don’t have the capacity for intellectual thought, just like Calhoun felt about the Partridge citizens. However, while Calhoun’s hierarchy and sense of superiority draw from his appreciation of independence and nonconformity, Joy-Hulga’s hierarchy resides in the artificial, and thereby, her wooden leg to an extent. Joy-Hulga prides herself in her intellect, which is validated by her “Ph.D. in philosophy” (276), but she also uses the connotation of superiority with a Ph.D. to justify her aversion to those she deems inferior, as shown by how it’s stated that “she looked at nice young men as if she could smell their stupidity” (276). Her sense of superiority, and thereby her hierarchy that supplies her superiority, is captured within her belief that “she [could Manley Pointer’s] remorse in hand and [change] it into a deeper understanding of life” (284). Her predilection to viewing people like Manley Pointer as inferior translates into a self-isolation prior to Manley Pointer’s intrusion into her life. As described by Mrs. Hopewell, her mother, Joy-Hulga rarely tries to connect with others, or rather, to branch out from herself; Joy-Hulga seemed to grow “less like other people and more like herself--bloated, rude, and squint-eyed” (276). Distinctly, Joy-Hulga’s hierarchy is one that has no room for anyone else at the top, and it places herself at the highest tier, making her untouchable and infallible in her mind. Because of her hierarchy that lends to an isolationary sense of superiority, Joy-Hulga is actually rather unfamiliar with social interaction, and because she assumes her superior position, she is further blinded to any guile
The Role Of Children In Flannery O Connor's White Cargo
351 Words | 2 PagesIn the book White Cargo, the authors write of the multutides of children that were sent to America in the early 1600 's. Bought or kidnapped, impoverished children were shipped to the new, English land to work on farms. In 1618, the leaders of London openly began taking useless children off the streets and the first shipment of children were deported to Virginia in 1619. According to White Cargo, in the summer of 1618, the Lord Mayor ordered constables to 'walk the streets...and forthwith apprenhend all such vagrant children, both boys and girls, as they shalll find in the streets and in the markets or wandering in the night ... and commit them to Bridewell, there to remain until futher order be given '. The majority of the children died
Compare And Contrast A Rose For Emily And A Good Man Is Hard To Find
1094 Words | 5 PagesThe short stories, "A Good man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner are rather horrifying; one tale is about a grandmother and her family brutally murdered by a coldhearted killer, and the other tale is about a lady who murders her lover and then sleeps beside his rotting body. Not only have O'Conner and Faulkner created similar plots in their respective stories, both authors criticize the Southern corruption through the distortion of the characters' world view of reality. The use of irony in the character's social statuses and their miserable lives illustrate the authors' criticism of the Southern social structure. The stories include insights into the families of the old south, and the older class system of
Analysis Of Margaret Fuller's Essay: The Great Lawsuit
695 Words | 3 PagesAt one point during this discussion she talks about self-reliance, stating, “…because the position I early was enabled to take was one of self-reliance. And were all women as sure of their wants as I was, the result would be the same. The difficulty is to get them to the point where they shall naturally develop self-respect…” (754). She talks about how hard it was to develop this kind of independent mind set. For women who did not grow up with Fuller’s advantages, it was a very daunting task.
Symbolism In Good Country People
868 Words | 4 Pages“She had a vision of the name working like the ugly sweating Vulcan…” (O’Connor 484), Vulcan is the Roman god of fire and also a blacksmith, furthermore, someone similar to Vulcan is Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and blacksmith as well. This is related to Hulga’s name change because Joy did not represent her, therefore, she decided to change it to Hulga. That is why she mentions Vulcan when she is having a conversation with her mother. Hulga can relate to him because, Hephaestus had a limp, he is ugly, and physically undesirable. Hulga fits all of those categories in a way, she had a limp because she did not have a leg, she was not physically ugly, but the way she thought of herself was, and she was undesirable because she did not take care of herself properly.
Literary Analysis: Flannery O Connor
1068 Words | 5 PagesLiterary Analysis ENG2106 Student name: Li Michaela Bernice Student ID: 4002551 Word count: Grace and sins Flannery O’Connor was a Southern author from America who frequently wrote in a Southern Gothic style and depended vigorously on local settings and bizarre characters. Her works likewise mirrored her Roman Catholic faith and regularly examined questions of morality and ethics. She created violence in the end of both “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge” to put the stories to the end. She asserted that she has found that violence is strangely capable of returning her characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace, and also violence is the extreme situation that best reveals who
Flannery O Connor The King Of The Birds Analysis
394 Words | 2 PagesFlannery O’Connor’s The King of the Birds is a narrative explaining the narrator’s obsession with different kinds of fowl over time. The reader follows the narrator from her first experience with a chicken, which caught the attention of reporters due to its ability to walk both backward and forward, to her collection of peahens and peacocks. At the mere age of five, the narrator’s chicken was featured in the news and from that moment she began to build her family of fowl. The expansive collection began with chickens, but soon the narrator found a breed of bird that was even more intriguing; peacocks.
Theme Of Two Places In Their Eyes Were Watching God
573 Words | 3 PagesAll throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel by Zora Neale Hurston, the themes of uniformity, love, and more can be seen encircling the world of Janie Mae Crawford, the protagonist of the story. These symbols and motifs stretch farther into the contrasting locations of Eatonville and the Everglades. There are many prominent differences between the two places, as well as prominent meaning and themes surrounding the two different locations. Eatonville and The Everglades house thematic symbols that contrast one another. Eatonville, the central urban setting, represents conformity, suppression and stagnant standard.
Good Country People Character Flaws
793 Words | 4 PagesEssay 3: Pride as a Character Flaw, Option A In Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor, Joy (later renamed Hulga) becomes blinded by her pride due to a bible salesman that turns out to be less than adequately stereotyped. Duped into succumbing to his tricks, the main character Joy allows her pride to keep her from seeing the truth until it’s too late. Joy’s pride contributes to her downfall because she hides behind a wall of intelligence to accommodate for her wooden leg.
Irony In Flannery O Connor's Good Country People
1242 Words | 5 PagesThe first encounter with Manley is when he attempts to sell Bibles to Mrs. Hopewell. He sweet-talks her into believing that he, as well, is a “good country people” by saying things such as “I know you’re a Chrustian because I can see it in every line of your face” (230). The tone that O’Connor uses in his words sets a mood of trust and mutual understanding due to the wooing. By putting a sense of hope in Mrs. Hopewell’s mind in relation to Manley himself, he titles himself a “good country people.” After gaining the trust of Hulga, and attempting to seduce her when they were in the barn on their date, it is revealed that he is the opposite of what he was describing himself as.
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
The Struggle In Helga Crane's Emotional Huge
309 Words | 2 PagesThe recognition of her self-worth would make the other social ills, such as, class and racial stereotypes and social expectations become irrelevant, as she would recognise herself, and what she is worth (Larsen). Helga Crane desires to strive for inner happiness; rather than, the material wealth of the society would have made her happier. Her constant pursuit for happiness in the external society; rather than, the quest for happiness inwardly, caused her to seek gratification and happiness from material wealth and the chase from men (Larsen). The need for her to use her body and beauty to lure wealthy and affluent men reflects on her lack of gratification and appreciation for what she has and this would make her seek for status and class; rather than internal happiness. Helga constant search for leisure, beautiful surrounding, and attention, would have been replaced with a search for meaningful relationships, innate happiness, and the internal self-awareness and peace (Larsen).
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
Where Are You Going Where Have You Been Gender Roles
709 Words | 3 PagesHe places her in the nursery of the colonial mansion, despite her requests to be placed otherwise, “I don 't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs... but John would not hear of it” (Gilman, 2). The narrator’s husband dictates all aspects of her life to the point where she internalizes her husband 's authority, accepting his dominance over her, “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad,” (Gilman, 2). Even though the narrator knows what she needs is to be active surrounded by people instead of cooped up alone in a house out in the countryside, she abruptly stops her train of thought as she remembers John’s instructions to not think about her condition.
The No Name Woman Analysis
915 Words | 4 PagesKingston’s mother exposes the story of her aunt to her as somewhat of a warning. Kingston’s mother explains to her how crucial it is to understand that what she does as a woman in their society is looked upon closely
Connotation In The Horse Dealer's Daughter
1122 Words | 5 PagesThe setting in “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” continues to convey the theme that women have been oppressed by society. Mabel faces oppression in the small english town where the story takes place. She explains that being a women does not matter as much when a family has money, but when they are poor she has to walk down the streets with her eyes low and avoid eye contact as she buys the cheapest item in every store (Lawrence 458). This shows that when a woman is seen as being represented by someone with power, in this case it is her father, then they are given a little respect. However, when a women is looked at just as herself and not as a rich man’s daughter she is not seen a colleague to men but as an object that is to be pitied.
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