Good Country Irony-Good Countr

Unlike Alanis Morissette, Flannery O’Connor used irony in a much subtler fashion in her work. O’Conner’s unique use of literary tools is one reason she “is considered one of the best short story authors of the 20th century” (Biography.com ). O’Connor ‘s use of irony is especially evident in the short-story “Good Country People.” Equally important is O’Connor’s use of clichés. The typical cliché lacks any substance. Ironically, clichés expressed in “Good Country People” depict abstract ideas. O’Connor’s unique combination of clichés and irony forces readers discern deeper concepts within the text. However, the readers’ ability to grasp these concepts hinges on paying close attention to the character depictions of Mrs. Hopewell, Hulga Hopewell, and Manely Pointer.

The narrator only compounds the laughable idea that these women are up to par with the average reader--after all, O'Connor was a well educated woman, writing for the literate--when he/she notes Mrs. Hopewell's "charitable" pride of Mrs. Freeman: Mrs. Hopewell liked to tell people [...] that Mrs. Freeman was a lady and that she was never "ashamed to take her anywhere" (Diyanni 172). The reader is inclined to laugh even harder at this, a terrible irony, after having already established both ladies as simple, "good country people." Of course, most of the true irony or humor found in O'Connor's stories is not found in the immediate and obvious. If we were to consider only Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman in the context in which they are presented to us in the beginning of the story, then we would have to conclude that O'Connor is in fact making fun of the faithful. Fortunately, she is a much better writer with a much deeper intent than that; as the story develops, so does the integrity of the "simple people." This eventual increase in status is something unexpected, especially since O'Connor supplies the reader with a perfectly acceptable, intellectual character with which to relate: Joy, or more fittingly, Hulga.

Irony is a very big part of a story, because it can create new elements in a story. Some of these elements may include humor and theme. "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a great example for this.

She claims to believe in nothing therefore she is a nihilist. However, she is not a true nihilist as she wavers from believing in nothing to comparing people to God. For example, after Mrs. Hopewell commented that a smile never hurt anyone and Hulga states, “Woman! Do you ever look inside? Do you ever look inside and see what you are not? God! [...] Malebranche was right: we are not our own light” (Country People 473). According to Helga’s words she does believe in God because philosopher Malebranche did believe in God and that our “light”-everything that makes humans alive, does come from God. O’Connor has Hulga contradict her own words to show reality is Hulga is confused and deep down inside she does believe in God. Hulga is also a disable person as she has a fake leg. In the short story her leg was stolen leaving her semi-crippled. By doing so O’Connor is attempting to show Hulga’s belief system has always been faulty as she doubted herself from the start. The final stealing of Hulga’s leg makes her realize that without believing in God she is crippled and doesn’t have a strong foundation of belief in

“Good Country People,” is a classic example of the use of irony as a technique for imbuing a story with meaning. Irony works on many different levels through the piece. Examples of this range from O’ Connors use of clearly ironic dialogue to the dramatic irony that unfolds between Manley and Joy-Hulga. However the most obvious examples can be found in O’Connor’s characterization of these, “Good Country People.” The technique of irony is applied prominently to the character’s names and behaviors to present the contradictions between their expectations and their reality. O’Connor uses her characters to explore common notions regarding, “good” and “bad” people. Using their expectations for one another, O’Connor ultimately expose their

Unlike Hooper in “A Minister’s Veil,” in “Good Country People,” Hulga is a crippled character who believes in no God. She not only has a wooden leg, she also has poor eyesight and a heart condition. However, Kate Oliver stated these “physical afflictions symbolize her emotional, intellectual, and spiritual impairments.” What Oliver means is that Joy/Hulga’s physical defects represent her misshapened spirit and her broken outlook towards religion. Oliver also stated that “Joy-Hulga revels in her rejection of God. She is a self-proclaimed atheist.” Furthermore, Hulga loved philosophy and this is what she believed in rather than God. She believed in the philosophies that taught that nothing exist outside the self and this belief is another manifestation of her spiritual defects. She chose to believe in this nothing

"Good Country People" by Flanner O’Connor is an excellent example of the effective use of irony and character development. From start to finish there is a steady progression of irony that stems from the title of Good Country People. Some instances of irony are blatant, but others need a closer reading to find. It’s amazing the complexity of the characters that occurs in such a short span of pages. The success of “Good Country People” comes not only from O’Connor’s use of irony but also from the interplay among and the complexity of her main characters.

Irony is a useful tool for giving stories unexpected turns and twists. In Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," irony is used as a very effective literary tool; to guide the story in and out of what we think will happen. O'Connor uses irony in this story to contradict statements and situations to expose a truth very much different from what "we" the reader would think to be true. O'Connor use irony in several different forms, situational irony, dramatic irony and verbal irony to make the story unpredictable and interesting to read. In most every aspect of the story from beginning to end there is some type of ironic twist. The title itself is some what

This biblical allusion to the way Jesus washed away the shame and sin of his followers demonstrates the way Hulga views Manley's innocence in contrast to her all-knowing capabilities. The irony is that Hulga's assumptions about Manley again demonstrate her own ingenuousness. When Hulga is left in the barn without her leg, the reader knows that a different Hulga will emerge. O'Connor indirectly specifies that the theft of her leg and the betrayal by Manly leaves her totally dependant on the grace of God. Ironically this makes Manly the lashing force of grace upon which Hulga is now dependant.

Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell daughter who is an atheist and has a Ph.D. in philosophy, has a wooden leg and a heart condition. Her heart is weak in physically and emotionally because she does not have the ability to love. When she meets Manley “[it] is clear in her plans for Pointer that she sees him as someone who is calculable, someone she can quantify and classify in order to use for her own ends” (Hubbard par.25). Hulga believes that her intelligence is superior to everyone and she can use it to get what she wants. Little does she know that Manley also does not believe in God and that makes him “outside her means of calculation and system of ordering as “standing reserve”-leads to her devastating humiliation and loss” (par.26). Manley is just like her, but worst. While she tries to take advantage of him, he plans to take advantage of her. While on their picnic “Manley Pointer, a boy with eyes as sharp as "two steel spikes", realizes how superficial her intelligence is, how easily it can be taken away from her, and how meaningless it is in the real world” (Oliver par.4). Just as the serpent was successful in making Eve believe that was okay to eat an apple of the Tree of Knowledge, Manley make Hulga believe that it is okay to go out with him and that she will be safe.

Ray Bradbury creates irony in order to warn the reader of a depressed drug ridden society filled with the unknown. This is shown with Montag, being a firefighter, his job is to start fires instead of putting them out, except they're burning books. In the beginning of the novel, "...Guy Montag joyously goes about his job... and Bradbury describes Montag's hands with ironic majesty," to show that his mind has been brainwashed to believe that he is happy. (McGiveron 1). Except, he is depressed about everything he has missed out on in life. Secondly, it is demonstrated through Montag believing he is happy, that is until he meets Clarisse. When Clarisse asks Montag a plethora of questions about how Montag decided to be a firefighter, "He felt his body divide itself... the two halves grinding upon one another," (Bradbury 21). He feels something he's never felt before, curiosity, he thought he was happy with his everyday life, but after meeting Clarisse, he realizes that he is missing out on a lot of things. Lastly, it is presented through Mildred always seeming happy. As Mildred constantly seems happy that she is married to Montag, she is secretly trying to kill herself, with a "...small crystal bottle of sleeping tablets... lay uncapped and empty," (Bradbury 11). While everyone in the society seems depressed, there is also an underlying event taking place in the background of the novel.

Irony is the expression of one’s meaning by using language that usually means the opposite. Typically in literature, irony is used in emphatic sense. There is a multitude of irony in “Good Country People.” The character’s names of this story are incredibly ironic. Joy-Hulga is ironic because she is the furthest from being joyful. Another example is, Mrs. Freeman. She is not free because she has been hired and enslaved by Mrs. Hopewell. Another type of irony in “Good Country People” is how Joy-Hulga’s intelligence causes

After dinner Manley Pointer secretly asks Joy/Hulga to go on a picnic with him the next day. She agrees and during the night she plans to seduce him. She imagines that she easily seduces him and that then, “of course, she had to reckon with his remorse.'; Being of superior intellect she imagines that she takes his remorse in hand and changes it into a

There is plenty of irony in “The Necklace”. The situational irony in this story happens at the end of the story when Mathilde, who really does not like hard labor or anything lower class finds out that she has had to give up the greatest years of her life to save up and replace a necklace that she discovers is a fake.  For a person who prided herself in that kind of taste and appearance on the upper class could not even tell the difference between the fake and valuable. The dramatic

She uses it to show us how each party feels, without making it too obvious at the same time. She uses ironic situations in order to let us know what is going on with her characters feelings, emotions, actions, and their past experiences. Without it, the stories she writes would be drastically different, and if I may be so bold to say, quite dull. But fortunately for all of us, she uses irony very, very well throughout all of her stories, especially this one, "The Storm." It's tied in so well that it aids us to see that this is not a storm of just thunder or lightning, but of lust and