Good Country People Essay

This particular literary device is so significant in this story because it explains why Joy is considered as weak as her mother. In addition, Joy’s leg had been removed due to a hunting accident that occurred when she was ten. She was also told she may live to see the age of forty-five because she had a weak heart. Therefore, she felt hopeless and no words of encouragement. In “Good Country People,” it states “All day Joy sat on her neck in a deep chair, reading. Sometimes she went for walks but she did not like dogs or cats or birds or flowers or nature or nice young men.” This statement exemplifies a hyperbole. O’Connor does this intentionally to demonstrate how much faith and confidence she had lost within herself to express to readers her particular role and actions in the story. O’Connor also uses ambiguity in the text. “Her name was really Joy but as soon as she was twenty-one and away from home, she had had it legally changed. Mrs. Hopewell was certain that she had thought and thought until she had hit upon the ugliest name in any language. Then she had gone and had the beautiful name, Joy, changed without telling her mother until after she had done it(O’Connor,274).” This statement displayed how Mrs. Hopewell was unsupportive as well as too lenient. It also proved how weak woman were in society. It proved it because woman are usually known to be strong, independent, and confident. Identity is important, however, Hulga did not believe so. Which

Because of her poor self-image, Hulga Hopewell melts as soon as she sees that the Bible salesman thinks that she is beautiful. He looks at her in a way that no one else ever has before. Manley Pointer not only smiles at her, but gazes at her in admiration and tenderness. The mere idea that this Bible salesman would be drawn to her leaves Hulga in complete astonishment and wonder. The narrator describes Hulga's fascination with the boy's fondness by saying, "It was like surrendering to him completely. It was like losing her own life and finding it again, miraculously, in his" (141). No one, including her mother, had ever seen Hulga as beautiful. For this reason, Manley easily wins her trust, and ultimately, tricks her. Hulga's immediate surrender to Manley

"Each trick crumples in the end as a result of the mental probability that the individuals who are superlatively sharp at beguiling others turn out to be similarly astute at misdirecting themselves. Disinformation eats the individuals who make it."

     Manley Pointer is probably the most lying, conniving little twerps that exists. Pointer giggles and tells Hulga the story. He comes to the home of Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga, hoping to sell them a Bible; however, when they refuse to buy one, he becomes distressed and finds a way to stay for dinner. Pointer makes a date with Hulga to meet at the gate and they continue to the second floor of the red barn. Here, he removes her leg, rendering Hulga motionless, and laughs in her face. Pointer insinuates that Hulga is stupid despite her degrees because she believed what he had dished out to her and her mother all night. He admits to have done it before and that he will do it again.

Hulga ask Manley on their outing the next why he brought his case with the Bibles to which he replies, “You can never tell when you’ll need the word of God, Hulga” (O’Connor, 454). They go in an abandoned old barn where he tricks her to climbing a ladder to a loft. He even drags his heavy case up to the loft. He keeps up his Choir boy act so that she will not expect what he is truly up to. They make it up to the loft and began kissing and somewhere along the way it seems Hulga is falling for the boy, as she admits her age and her intelligence to him. She is starting to strip away her mask with her honesty leaving her more vulnerable. He starts to take interest in her wooden leg and asking her about it in a gentle sort of way seeming that he wants to know every part of her. “She decided that for the first time in her life she was face to face with real innocence” (O’Connor, 456). She allows him to take her wooden leg off leaving her totally vulnerable in a loft off the ground. “Without the leg she felt entirely dependent on him” (O’Connor, 457). Manley opens his Bible case, “It was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey, a pack of cards, and a small blue box with printing on it” (O’Connor, 457). Hulga is shocked by what she sees and Manley’s mask is revealed. He is an imposter, a swindler, a sinner, an unbeliever, and he

What is deception? Deception is misleading, misguiding, dishonest, cheat and fraud. It is anything that turns someone from the truth of a matter? Could it be the way the words one say is brought across to one's hearing? According to Howard Thurman, deception is the oldest technique used by the weak to protect them. Mr. Thurman also provides illustrations of creatures in what way they use the system. I must agree to we all have a wall of defensive we put up against people. I would also say that does not mean that doing so is okay all the time. So many times we as people use this technique at the wrong times to avoid the truth at times. Although reading the story of the blind man that was killed by a law-enforcement officer stood out to me.

In Flannery O’Conner’s short story “Good Country People,” she describes a man who presents himself in a way different from how he truly is. Perhaps people are as empty as the bible in his briefcase. Society teaches us about texts and their necessity in our lives. After all everything we know was passed down and written for us to retain. What if the book that tells our story was hollow? Who would we be now? His bible is hollowed out to reveal alcohol; the object that is most precious to him. Are we as a society taught to suppress our inner desires and replace it for something more socially acceptable? Alcohol is known to be not the best for people, but drinking is socially acceptable; however, the bible salesman feels otherwise because he replaces his alcohol with a bible. The bible salesman feels that his desires do not align with society so he feels compelled to put on a façade. Does this behavior sound familiar? Are people only portraying what society asks them to?

Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor is a story with a lot of ironic elements in it. These are mostly found in the way that the characters depict themselves in contrast of how they truly are. For example, Mrs. Hopewell says that she has no bad qualities of her own, but she is a constant liar is an how she happened to hire the Freemans in the first place and how they were a godsend to her and how she had them for four years. The reason for keeping them for so long was because they were not trash” (O’Connor 247). Mrs. Hopewell is not the only hypocrite in this story; Manley Pointer is also incredibly hypocritical, fake, and manipulative. He depicts himself as a “Bible salesmen”, but in reality he is a con artist. When Hulga opens up his Bible, she sees a flask of whiskey, cards, and condoms in it. This would be seen as incredibly offensive and sinful to a Christian. According to Thomas F. Gusset, “Joy/Hulga begins to discover that the Bible

Kiara Liz Correa English 221September 19th, 2017 Good Country PeopleIn the story, Good Country People written by Flannery O’Connor, Hulga Hopewell lost her joy at the age of ten when she lost her leg and was diagnosed with a heart condition. Hulga isa thirty-two-year-old woman who is over educated and spends the rest of her life being miserableand doing everything in her power to irritate her mother and everyone around her. Although Hulga seems to want acceptance from her mother and her environment around her, with close reading we find out that she really doesn’t care about anything or anyone. The only thing she wants is to be superior, immature and bitter. Hulga Hopewell is nothing but someone who thinks she is above everyone because she believes that she is superior. She never bothers in trying to get to know the others as real people, if she had she would have realized that there was more to them that meets the eye. Her lack of interest in the other characters effectively isolates her from any meaningful relationship with other characters especially her mother. Hulga is very versed, though perhaps not as smart as she thinks she is. While one is tempted to see view Hulga as a weak individual, she sees herself as a strong and powerful, even imagining seducing Manley Pointer. She sees herself in such a position of power and “worldliness” that she declares herself as an atheist, and chooses to believein “nothing” making her a nihilist. Hulgas life is turned upside down, as she is confronted with Mr. Manley Pointer who is the one that holds power over her, and later realizes that the “power” she had was nothing more than an illusion. Hulga Hopewell is also very immature. Her acts of rebellion can be seen as a way for her wanting to be accepted, but she really just wants to annoy her mother and anyone around her. Hulga uses her handicap, a leg partially shot off during a hunting accident, as an excuse for stomping loudly around the house in hopes of irritating her mother. She also spends her time making sly comments about her mother and Mrs. Freemans daughter’s, who she calls Caramel and Glycerin just to spite both women. She never really acts like a thirty-two-year-old woman and doesn’t dress like one either,

. .] I said I was busy,” (1-4). She then goes on to show how those lies not only did not incur immediate negative effects, but also proved somewhat beneficial to her and her family. By illustrating such a situation for the audience, Ericsson emphasizes the irrevocable role that lying plays in society while also initiating contemplation regarding the possible pros and cons of seemingly innocuous lying. Further on, as she deconstructs lying into specific categories, Ericsson provides contrast to her first anecdote with a narrative regarding a charlatan-esque friend who “seduced others into an illusion” that he was intelligent and trustworthy (11). In doing so, she introduces the audience to the position that lies have larger and more dangerous implications than they may have originally believed. Ericsson unseats her audience in order to make them question any preconceived concepts about lying they

Tucker Max once wrote, “The devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you've ever wished for” (Max 321). The devil always appears when and where he is least anticipated. The devil is very deceitful in not only his disguise, but also his actions powered by selfish motives. Manley Pointer, in Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” parallels these characteristics. Manley Pointer is a traveling Bible salesperson who approaches Mrs. Hopewell while selling Bibles and ultimately seduces her daughter, Joy. While they are on a date, Joy recognizes that Manley Pointer is not who he initially disguised himself to be. In “Good Country People,” Flannery O’Connor utilizes Manley Pointer to symbolize the devil and Manley Pointer’s deceptive techniques, which parallel those of the devil, to demonstrate that the devil is always where you least expect him.

The quote acts as foreshadowing for what her attitude towards life will be. We later find out that she is right, but that she does not live by her credo. Manley Pointer exploits this weakness as soon as she opened her door. Showing up as a pathetic bible salesman with an ailing heart (which is coincidentally exactly what Joy-Hulga had) laying the old guilt trip on Mrs. Hopewell on how no one wants to deal with a simple country boy like himself, he attacks her weakness right at the heart of it. Not more than two minutes after he knocked on the door, he ends up eating dinner with them and at the conclusion is even invited to return any time he’d like. His persona blinds Mrs. Hopewell and prevents her from being somewhat suspicious of Manley. At the end of the story, we see that Mrs. Hopewell is still clouded by her weakness and refers to Manly as simple as he passes through a field by Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman. Unlike Mrs. Hopewell, Joy-Hulga faces and comes to a realization of her weakness.

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

Knowing Flannery O’Connor’s religious conviction, one cannot overlook this underlying tone in both of her regarded stories “A Good Man is hard to Find” and “Good Country People”. It is often said of those who stand outside of religious conviction that faith seems to come in handy to people only when it is valuable to get them out of a predicament, of which they have likely placed themselves through insensitive behavior and decisions. In such a desperate attempt to appeal to faith, one only finds emptiness and a fate that leaves them hopeless or even dead. O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People” illustrate that the inability to see the flaws in one’s self lead to substantial consequences, where an appeal to faith

In addition, when Manley Pointer, who is a Bible salesman, says “I like girls that wear glasses” (page 490). This connects the wearing of eyeglasses to intelligence, reflecting Hulga’s intelligence, because she possesses a Ph.D. None the less, she is blind to reality, having knowledge only of books and abstract ideas rather than of people, this is why she was described as “she seldom paid any close attention to her surroundings” (pg. 493). She probably claims that philosophy has helped her to see clearly; however, her intellectual superiority is the very thing that has blinded her, she also claims “I don’t have illusions” (page 493). However, all her multiples degrees have literally provided her with knowledge of nothing; all she is nothing.