In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good Country People” she introduces Joy -Hulga. Joy-Hulga is an educated and intelligent young woman who lives within an environment she doesn’t belong. Joy-Hulga feels as if she is not one of those good country people despite her education and intelligence, however, throughout the story she experiences situations that has her reconsider her life. Due to an accident when Joy-Hulga was young she now has a artificial leg, however, the loss of her leg has caused her to distrust other, feel insecure, and taken away her identity.…
“We’d crawl in shame in the emptiness we’d made in our own father’s backyard,” pens Mary Oliver regarding the shame that she would feel for cutting the black walnut tree a symbol of her family. In a similar manner, Sarah Mary Taylor writes about a quilt that the speaker obtains in her youth and how she hopes that it will remain a symbol for her family and life. In order to effectively convey the symbolism of their families, both authors employ figurative language and imagery that supports their symbolic meaning.…
In the short story “Good Country People,” Flannery O’Connor utilizes the characters Joy Hopewell and Manley Pointer to expose how believing in nothing makes a person isolated and spiritually empty. Joy Hopewell is a well-educated, thirty-two year old atheist with an artificial leg. Joy's lack of belief causes her to lose all the human civility and decency she has. She even changes her name to Hulga. Flannery O'Connor's use of the mythological Trickster persona to seek, attract, and repulse the protagonist Joy-Hulga leads to her spiritual enlightenment.…
Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” is a short story about the connection between one’s soul and life. The story centers around Hulga (Joy) Hopewell and the life-changing experience she has with a traveling Bible salesman (Meyer 265). As a whole, “Good Country People” shows how a person’s point of view can affect the experiences they have. At the beginning of the story, Mrs. Hopewell (Hulga’s mother) has a positive experience with the Bible salesman.…
O'Connor's " Good Country People " is a story about the relationship between main character Joy who changes her name later and her mother Mrs. Hopewell, also people surrounding them. The other important characters are Mrs. Freeman who is hired by Mrs. Hopewell and Manley Pointer who deceits Joy by pretending "good country people".…
In the novel, the characters and events symbolize the themes presented in Christianity. An example would be Jim Casy, a former preacher who stopped preaching for he had sinned. He accompanies the Joad family to their journey to California, and even though he insists he isn't a preacher anymore, he continues to preach the Joad family.…
One of these themes was racism, a practice she particularly abhorred, and religion. As a Roman Catholic, O’Connor’s stories and themes strike hard. Her stories have underlying Catholic themes especially when dealing with ethics and morality. As a “fellow” Roman Catholic, much of O'Connor's work focuses on Christian concepts of pride, sin, and redemption.…
Flannery O'Connor stated in relation to Nathaniel Hawthorn: "I feel more of a kinship with him than any other American Writer." This kinship is well deserved when considering all the similarities between these two authors. Both authors use central literary symbols to strengthen the story and the meaning behind it. Along with similarities in tone and theme these authors differ greatly when it comes to the style of their writings. Despite all the differences it is the central literary symbol of the black veil and the wooden leg that tie these stories together much like the kinship felt between them authors.…
In "Good Country People," Flannery O'Connor introduces the reader to Hulga Hopewell, a sullen thirty-two year old atheist, who embodies a complex mixture of unsympathetic and sympathetic traits. Hulga’s arrogant confidence that she is intellectually and morally superior to those around her characterizes her as unlikable and unsympathetic. She boldly wears her godless beliefs with little regard for offending those around her. As an illustration, she changes her beautiful name, Joy, to Hulga to spite her mother and considers the ugly name change "one of her major triumphs." She slyly manipulates Mrs. Freeman's rambling conversations to avoid answering her mother's questions about her interest in Manley Pointer, the phony Bible salesman.…
Many people hold destructive opinions without considering their full implications. Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" uses characterization, symbolism, and irony to warn people with a nihilistic philosophy of life that their beliefs will inevitably lead to ruin. In this story a young atheist woman is destroyed when she is brought face-to-face with the evil personification of her worldview.…
Flannery O’Connor has always liked to use various types of humor and irony in her stories centered around the dark, tragic, and uncomfortable ways of life. She uses these literary techniques to mask what she is truly trying to say. "Good Country People" by Flannery O 'Connor is a prime example of humor and irony which makes fun of the simple, intellectual, as well as the incongruous people in the world.…
Flanner O’Conner’s “Good Country People” is a story that captivates the reader through her use of theme, imagery, and symbolism. Her main question is “what does it mean to be a good person?” In this story the meaning takes centers around how a “good person” leads a pious, Christian life. In contrasting the mindless gossip about “good country people”, O’Conner questions the significance of religious faith. O’Conner’s narrative style creates tension between the real world characters and the symbolic nature of their names, actions and words.…
Cited: Feeley, Katleen. Flannery O’Connor: Voice of the Peacock. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1972. Print. Fitzgerald, Sally, ed. Collected Works: O’Connor. New York: Viking Press, 1988. Print. Gordon, Mary. “Flannery’s Kiss”. Michigan Quarterly Review 43.3, (2004). Print. Kelly, Joseph, ed. “The Seagull Reader” 2nd Ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. Print. Kessler, Edward. Flannery O’Connor and the Language of the Apocalypse. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986. Print. Kilcourse, George. Flannery O’Connor’s Religious Imagination: A World With Everything Off Balance. New York: Paulist Press, 2011. Print. O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” The Seagull Reader 2nd ed. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 373-388. Print. ---. "A Reasonable Use of the Unreasonable," Perrine’s Story and Structure, 12th ed. Ed. Thomas Arp, Greg Johnson. Boston: Wadsworth Cenage, 2009. 425-427. Print. ---. “Everything That Rises Must Converge” Collected Works: O’Connor Ed. Sally Fitzgerald. New York: Viking Press, 1988. 485-500. Print. Paulson, Suzanne Morrow. Flannery O’Connor A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne Publishing, 1988. Print.…
In William Faulkner's 1939 short story "Barn Burning," a young boy, Colonel Sartoris Snopes (Sarty), is faced with and forced to endure the abusive and destructive tendencies of his father, Abner Snopes. As the story unfolds, several examples can be found to illustrate Faulkner's use of symbolism to allow the reader to sense the disgust for Abner Snopes, the significance in the lack of color usage throughout the story, and finally, Sarty's journey.…
Flannery O'Connor's style of southern gothic writing, with her background of Christianity, collaborate for some controversial and unorthodox symbolism. In her short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own, O'Connor incorporates numerous symbols to emphasize her theme. O'Connor's use of symbolism filters into the names and traits of her characters, the dimensions of her setting, and the events of her plot.…