Shannon Evans

The Complete Stories: Good Country People

Flannery O’Connor

English 242: American Writers 2

Fall 2010

Professor Neil Schmitz

 Evans 1

“You just a while ago said you didn’t believe in nothing. I thought you was some girl!

Her face was almost purple. ‘You’re a Christian!’ she hissed. ‘You’re a fine Christian!

You’re just like them all-say one thing and do another. You’re a perfect Christian,

you’re...’ The boy’s mouth was set angrily. ‘I hope you don’t think,’ he said in a lofty

indignant tone ‘That I believe in that crap!’ I may sell bible but I wasn’t born yesterday

and I know where I’m going! ” (290).

Flannery O’Connor was a classic Roman Catholic southern belle; a very

intelligent and creative one at that. One of her short stories, “Good Country People,”

displays her distinct style flawlessly. In most of O’Conner’s works, she uses her

southern upbringing as knowledge in showcasing traditional southern like settings and

characters. She also often intertwines ethical questions and religious undertones to

create interesting and thought provoking stories for the reader. “Good Country People”

is the epitome of this trend.

When one is introduced to the characters at the beginning of the story the

descriptions are informative but meaningfully stereotypical. Mrs. Freeman, the first

women the reader is introduced to, is described simply. “Besides the neutral expression

that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse,

that she used for all her human dealings” (271). Mrs. Freeman has the intentional irony

of being a free spirit. Although she works for Mrs. Hopewell, she always makes
 Evans 2

sure to assert her thoughts and behaves on her own accord. Mrs. Freeman also tends

to make sure her daughters are the center of attention. This is fine by Mrs. Hopewell’s

daughter Joy/Hulga, a large blonde girl with a wooden leg. Hulga would rather retreat to

her room to criticize her peers and dote on her own intelligence. Mrs. Hopewell is the

opposite of her bitter condescending daughter. She appears selfless and loving. She

continuously tries to see the good in everyone including the Freemans and even Joy.

“Mrs. Hopewell had no bad qualities of her own but she was able to use other people’s

in such a constructive way that she never felt the lack.” The last character the reader

meets in the novel, Manley Pointer, is no exception to Mrs. Hopewell’s blind eye, but it

is not completely her fault. He also manages to fool everyone, even the all-knowing

Hulga.

Hulga/Joy is the pivotal character of the fiction. She is the person that O’Connor

chooses to use to fulfill her moral challenge quota for the story. Joy is Hulga’s birth

name. She chose to disown Joy because it was so unfitting. Before the reader is

introduced to Joy, one could presume that she would be a pleasant woman, because

typically thinking, she is the offspring of a perfect woman. Ironically enough there was

nothing particularly joyful about Hulga. Her only redeeming quality (her “Intelligence”)

essentially led to her downfall. Hulga was ugly inside and out. She wears weird clothes,

makes unflattering faces and noises, and is very rude in general. She has no desire to

make a bond with her mother; insistently avoiding to go on walks with her, or have any

type of normal conversation without making her poor attitude center stage. All of this
 Evans 3

points to her suppressing something. However what that may be is not made evident

until the very end of the story.

O’Connor uses methods of foreshadow and symbolism to strengthen her

message in “Good Country People.” All of Hulga’s ailments have their own symbols

behind them. Hulga’s failing heart serves as a reminder that Hulga herself is a failure

and is really going nowhere. After receiving her PHD she returns home to mope in her

house all day. It is obvious that she is bothered that her life will never amount to

anything more. Her Failing eyesight represents that both physically and mentally she

fails to fully see and comprehend the world, others, and even herself. Even with all her

learned knowledge, she is naïve, and lacks common sense. She closes herself off and

holds herself in such high regard, but she really is depressed. Hulga’s leg is perhaps the

most important symbol of all. Although she pity’s herself because of her leg, it is also an

object she has grown to care about. This leg was something that was hers, and no one

else’s. She took care of it, and she was the owner. This leg was her claim to

independency. Like her knowledge, she alone knew what it was like to have a wooden

leg; therefore it was another object that separated her from everyone else. She also had

faith in her leg. Since she was seemingly not religious she had nothing to believe in.

She chose her leg as a source of both dependency and faith.

Foreshadow occurs towards the middle of the story when Mrs. Hopewell sees the

bible salesman outside. One of her thoughts is “My daughter is an atheist and won’t let

me keep the bible in the parlor.”(278). This is an ironic statement that very subtly implies
 Evans 4

the ending of the story. At this point, the reader is still being misled under the illusion

that Manley Pointer (whose name also prophesizes the end) is a perfect Christian

figure. This quotation of Mrs. Hopewell represents how Hulga very strongly feels she is

an Atheist, while Manley Pointer portrays himself as an orthodox regimented Christian.

The ending scene of “Good Country People” shows the role reversal between Hulga

and Manley. It comes to surface that Hulga does indeed believe in something, while

Manley is the one who believes in nothing.

So naively Hulga accepts Manley’s admiration for her. It seems almost foolish

that she never questions his intentions. She blindly thinks he really loves her, and that

she is the one in control. The only reason she seems to not be her rude and brutal self

is because his innocence is intriguing to her. While they go on their walk Hulga

assumes power at all times, she is the dominant one when talking and even kissing.

She continuously tells herself her heart isn’t invested. She likes the company of Manley

but only because she thinks of him as a project. She sets out to break his innocence in

both spirit, and flesh. One flaw in her plan was her believing his feigned ignorance.

When Hulga and Manley go into the barn Manley asks Hulga if he can take off her leg,

he makes it obvious that this, and only this, will prove her trust for him. Hulga is gullible

and thinks that, even without her leg, her mental superiority would still be enough to

keep her in control. She considers the option and wants Manley enough to honor his

request. By letting her see and take off her leg she allows herself to become vulnerable.

This vulnerability leads us up to my epigraph.

 Evans 5

These lines summarize the significance of the story. They show the foremost

important role switch between Manley and Hulga. After Hulga is without her wooden leg,

Manley shows his true colors. He opens up one of his bibles to showcase a flask of

Whiskey, an obscene pack of cards, and a box of condoms. These items are still part of

his sick scheme to terrorize Hulga into thinking he will rape her. These items show

Manley’s complete control of the situation. Thankfully he didn’t, but Hulga still lost her

priceless leg. As he is leaving Manley proclaims

“I’ve gotten a lot of interesting things, one time I got a woman’s glass eye this

way. And you needn’t to think you’ll catch me because pointer ain’t really my

name. I use a different name at every house I call at and don’t stay nowhere

long. And I’ll tell you another thing Hulga, You ain’t so smart. I been believing in

nothing ever since I was born!” (291).

Even though Manley acts as though he is the intelligent one, he is still no better off than

anyone else. In fact he may even be worse off; after all he is living off of his thrill for

prosthetic fetishes. The good that came out of this is Hulga’s epiphany. Her epiphany is

the answer to O’ Connors ethical challenge. Hulga’s realization results with two

answers. The first being that she is no better or stronger than anyone else and the

second is her acknowledgement that she truly does believe in something. Her

declaration of “You’re a Christian!” makes it evident for the reader to see that she

believes that religion provides a moral code. Another eye opener to Hulga’s character

came in the form of her giving up her leg. This action showed her desire for compassion
 Evans 6

and respect. This is contradictory because throughout the story the way she portrays

herself makes the reader assume she wants to be lonely and unloved. Also, she doesn’t

boast about her education to others so it made it seem like respect wasn’t all that

important to her. Hulga giving up her leg contradicts these feelings by showing how she

was suppressing her true wants. The ending undoubtedly leaves Hulga a changed

woman.

“Aren’t you just good country people?”….“Yeah but it ain’t held me back none.

I’m as good as you any day in the week.” (290). So do ‘Good country people’ really live

up to their hype? As Manley says he is clearly no different than anyone else. But who is

to say that Manley was truly a country person? His lying got him pretty far so he very

well might have been pretending to be an uneducated ‘Country person.’ Mrs. Freeman

is also a country folk, but she doesn’t seem all that great either (she is nosy and

domineering). At the very end of “Good Country People” Mrs. Hopewell says “I guess

the world would be better off if we were all that simple.” This also is a very important

idea of the story. Does simplicity have a correlation to innocence? And in turn would

simplicity make one smarter? Happier? Country people have a connotation to

simplicity. The character of Hulga (who was not a country person) shows that education

and the complexity of her thoughts added to her unhappiness. Ironically enough Mrs.

Hopewell seems much closer to portraying the features of a country person than any of

the actual ‘Country People’ (The Freemans, Manley). It shows Manley’s point that

character is about individuality. Mrs. Hopewell is simple, happy, and caring. She is the

character who the rest should strive to be. She is what they call the ‘Salt of the earth.’