"Good Country People" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor that tells the tale of a young woman named Joy who renames herself Hulga after losing her leg in a hunting accident. Hulga is a deeply cynical and bitter character who prides herself on her intelligence and education, and she views the people around her as simple-minded and narrow-minded.
The story takes place on a farm in the rural South, where Hulga lives with her mother, Mrs. Hopewell. Mrs. Hopewell is a devout Christian who is constantly trying to convert Hulga to her way of thinking, but Hulga resists her mother's attempts at every turn. Despite her mother's efforts, Hulga remains a deeply cynical and skeptical person, convinced that the world is a cruel and meaningless place.
Into this world comes a young man named Manley Pointer, a charismatic and charming bible salesman who charms Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga with his smooth talking and good looks. Hulga is immediately taken with Manley, and the two begin a flirtation that ultimately leads to a confrontation in Hulga's bedroom.
As it turns out, Manley is not the man he appears to be, and Hulga's encounter with him is a turning point in her life. Through the course of the story, O'Connor reveals the depth of Hulga's cynicism and her inability to connect with others on a deeper level. In the end, Hulga is left alone and betrayed, her faith in the goodness of people shattered by Manley's deceit.
"Good Country People" is a powerful and poignant tale that explores the themes of faith, redemption, and the human condition. Through the character of Hulga, O'Connor shows the dangers of clinging too tightly to our own beliefs and the importance of being open to new ideas and experiences. Ultimately, the story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of judging others and the importance of being open to the possibility of change.
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She urged him to talk about himself and he did. Hulga never considers that she might be the naĆÆve one. Freeman had a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children. She has been working for Mrs. And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too. She didn't realize he had taken her glasses but this landscape could not seem exceptional to her for she seldom paid any close attention to her surroundings. Says them cramps is coming from pressure.
Good Country People Summary & Analysis
She imagined that the two of them walked on the place until they came to the storage barn beyond the two back fields and there, she imagined, that things came to such a pass that she very easily seduced him and that then, of course, she had to reckon with his remorse. It was like losing her own life and finding it again, miraculously, in his. We know it by wishing to know nothing of Nothing. Hopewell then lied to the Bible Salesman, telling him that she keeps a bible by her bedside. Then she returned her attention to the evil-smelling onion shoot she was lifting from the ground. Her silver gleamed on the two sideboards; she decided he had never been in a room as elegant as this. The boy was unscrewing the top of the flask.
Flannery O'Connorās Stories āGood Country Peopleā Summary and Analysis
The Bible Salesman says that he meant no offense, and that God will take care of her. Says instead of medicine. He was now nineteen years old and he had been selling Bibles for four months. All day Joy sat on her neck in a deep chair, reading. Then on what seemed an insuck of breath, he whispered, "You ever ate a chicken that was two days old? She used to be insecure about her wooden leg, but now she reveres it as her defining quality, besides her education. Such is after all the strictly scientific approach to Nothing.
