Summary Of ' Good Country People ' By Flannery O ' Connor

The story “Good Country People”, by Flannery O’Conner is a work that uses characterization in a new and interesting way to help shape and present the characters of this story. One of the main characters is Hulga Hopewell, also known as Joy Hopewell. This characters name plays a very ironic role in the story. Through the use of such a peculiar name O’Conner helps to develop and build the characteristics of Hulga. In the story “Good Country People” the use of the name Hulga (Joy) Hopewell helps to further build upon the characterization of Hulga and give the reader a deeper understanding of the character.

Most of Flannery O'Connor's stories seem to contain the same elements: satirical and regional humor, references to God and Christianity, violent similes and metaphors, lots of stereotypical characters, grotesque humor and often focuses a lot of description on character's clothes and faces. However, one of the most important elements of O'Connor's "Good Country People" is the relevance of names. Her choice of names seem to give indications about the personalities of the characters and seem to be more relevant to the story than what the reader would commonly overlook as simply being stock character names. Mrs. Hopewell losing her "joy" (both her daughter and her

Thesis Statement: In Flannery O'Connor's short story "Good Country People," the expulsion of the outside world allows for more emphasis on the symbolic nature of each of the active characters.

The purpose of this essay is to correlate the theme of three different stories that had been read. I decided to choose the stories “Good Country People”, “Hills Like White Elephants”, and “The Storm.” I believe that the theme across these stories is to beware of the wolf in sheep clothing. In these stories, there was an antagonist that posed as a protagonist who even though their intentions may have looked well skin deep, the underlying intentions against the main character were not of good intent. I will describe certain situations in each of the three stories that show the theme I have noted.

By definition joy means a great feeling of pleasure and happiness. In Mary Flannery O'Connor's short story Good Country People, Joy Freeman was not at all joyful. Actually, she was the exact opposite. Joy's leg was shot off in a hunting accident when she was ten. Because of that incident, Joy was a stout girl in her thirties who had never danced a step or had any normal good times. (O'Connor 249). She had a wooden leg that only brought her teasing from others and problems in doing daily activities. Joy was very rude as well. In the story it speaks of her comments being so rude and ugly and her face so glum that her mother's boss, Mrs. Hopewell, would

Characterization is the most prevalent component used for the development of themes in Flannery O?Connor?s satirical short story ?Good Country People.? O?Connor artistically cultivates character development throughout her story as a means of creating multi-level themes that culminate in allegory. Although the themes are independent of each other, the characters are not; the development of one character is dependent upon the development of another. Each character?s feelings and behavior are influenced by the behavior of the others.

Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia. She was an American writer. O’Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories in her life time. She was a southern writer who wrote in Southern Gothic style. In the Article, Female Gothic Fiction Carolyn E. Megan asks Dorothy Allison what Southern Gothic is to her and she responded with, “It’s a lyrical tradition. Language. Iconoclastic, outrageous as hell, leveled with humor. Yankees do it, but Southerners do it more. It’s the grotesque.”(Bailey 1) Later she was asked who one of her role models was and she stated that Flannery O’Connor was one she could relate to. One of O’Connor’s stronger works was “Good Country People” which was published in 1955.

Sometimes the only thing that is constant in life is change. As time passes on, people, places, and ideas are bound to change. Not only can people change, but whole societies and generations can as well. As these changes happen, the differences between generations can become very large, and this can eventually lead to conflict. In Flannery O’Connor’s three short stories, “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” “Good County People,” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the gaps between generations causes problems. A skewed perspective about both the past and present causes generational conflict in these stories, and O’Connor shows how this narrow-mindedness can eventually lead to a catastrophic ending.

Differences are shared throughout life, whether it's positive or negative, but there are also special occurrences for similarities to meet up with someone and form a friendly relationship. Through books and people or even objects, similarities can be found anywhere through space and time. In one story, from the book "Deep and Dark and Dangerous" there was a ghost haunting a house by wasn't recognized as a ghost. Ali O'Dwyer, the protagonist of the novel, is determined and dedicated to solve this spooky mystery. If it were me, Ali O'Dwyer would be the most similar to be among all the other books I have read because she has dedication, make friends with unusual features, helpful in someone's cause, and an overseer for her younger cousin.

reasons for actions explained in the stories, and what the characters rely on to make decisions

I remember waking up in the mornings after a long night of thinking and tears. I would always say school is important and that was what motivated me, it was my distraction from the side life that i was living and no one knew about. I remember walking into my classes and trying my best to concentrate but it was nearly impossible for me, . I have always been the girl who no matter what the situation is, has maintained a smile and a positive attitude towards life and situations. Although. no one knew what was going on inside of me, i did because it had reflected on my classes especially those that needed my full and undivided attention. I was traumatized but i didn't know that was the reason why concentrating in my classes was harder than it had ever been. I was confused and didn't know how to react to what was happening to me, all i knew was that i didn't like it. i was a victim of molestation throughout my freshman and sophomore year. but i didn't know that. i was scared to tell my parents what was going on because i was scared of what could have happened to me or my family,. Throughout

If I were to flashback to an early memory that had a huge impact on my life, I would say it was when I was six and moved to Oklahoma. That was a really hard time for me because I had to give up my friends and move to a “BIG” city with strange people. At this moment in my life I thought this was the worst thing my parents has ever done. I was so angry with them. I even remember trying to jump out of the car when we were leaving West Virginia.

I was 6 years old when the first semi-significant event happened in my life. The story isn’t tragic or entertaining but a grade’s a grade. The day started quite early, getting dressed would take around an hour when you had 4 children in grade school with a TV in the living room. I don’t recall breakfast or any of this clearly anyways. The drive was long and the roads we turned on were a blur on my mind. Today was the first day of school; I hadn’t actually really heard much about it despite having 3 older brothers. I did however biologically know it would be awful. I cried in my ignorant youth, pleading, begging, negotiating my way out of this horrible place I had never been and never wanted to be. Alas, I was pushing an unmovable mountain,

In the two short stories “A&P” and “Miss Brill” both have characters who are very similar. The two characters that will be compared is Sammy from “A&P” and Miss Brill from “Miss Brill”. While reading these stories, there are a few similarities between the two characters. They both start their day as they always do until there becomes an obstacle in the way that changes their routine. They both make judgments and analyze other people’s lives that they don’t know, and neither the reader gets to know other than through the thoughts of the main characters Sammy and Miss Brill. They also make hasty decisions after someone has been rude to them.

C.L Lewis once said, “We read to know we are not alone” (Web). Literature of all genres was designed to transport readers worlds and stories different from their own. These stories allow the reader to go on adventures, discover a time long since passed and have a chance to fulfill dreams from the safety of pages in a book. Many stories have similarities in the core story take Maxine Shore’s The Captive Princess and Danielle Steel’s No Greater Love for example. They both follow a young girl catapulted into a new way of life by tragic circumstances spanning several years, yet it is the different approaches to that the author took to tell that narrative that makes each story unique. There is an inherited relationship between the narrative