Literary Analysis: "Good Country People"

“Good Country People,” by Flannery O’Connor is about a mother, Mrs. Hopewell, and her daughter, Joy. Joy is disabled due to a hunting accident that took off her led. She is 33 years old and still lives with her mother, as if she was still a teenager. This is not the only way Joy acts as a child. She is very naive, despite the fact that she has a PhD in philosophy, and she lacks common, worldly sense. Joy believes, although, that she is more intellectual than the “good country people” who surround her. One day, “Hulga,” the name Joy gives herself, and her mother open their door to a “bible salesman,” Manly Pointer. Later in the story, Hulga and Manly go on a picnic in a barn loft. Manly persuades Hulga to take off her glasses and fake leg. He then tells her he steals prosthetics from the disabled and leaves. Hulga is alone in the loft blind and abandoned.

“Good Country People,” like many of O’Connors stories, includes many symbols and references to eyes. Hulga wears glasses throughout the story, but ironically the world is blind to her. She does not see the worldly evils, and she believes she is much more intelligent than others, especially “good country people.” Hulga thinks she is smarter than Manly and that she can seduce him, all the while, Manly is plotting to steal her fake leg. After Manly leaves her abandoned and without her glasses, she finally sees the world for what it can be: evil. “Good Country People,” is another example of O’Connor’s lack of confidence for good people in the world, as seen in “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”