Analysis Of Good Country People By Flannery O Connor

In “Good Country People”, Flannery O’Connor uses unique symbols to represent each character’s personality. This allows the reader to gain a better understanding of the key points throughout O’Connor’s writing. Joy Hopewell, the protagonist in this short story, and Manley Pointer, the antagonist, possess physical abnormalities that reveal their person characteristics. Joy’s disabilities represent her weaknesses which contribute to her attempted seduction; however, Manley’s disabilities represent his distorted intentions and demoralizing actions which contribute to his success. Overall, Manley’s male power and expertise in nihilism gives him a clear advantage over Joy, who meets her downfall at the end. Joy’s heart condition limits the activities

It becomes clear that Joy “thought and thought until she has hit upon the ugliest name in any language” (O’Connor 458). The ugliness of Hulga’s name is a sign of her negative attitude toward the world. Additionally, changing her name symbolizes the control that Hulga has over her own life (Colas 1). Because Hulga dislikes her mother, she deliberately changes her name in order to go against Mrs. Hopewell’s wishes. Hulga changed her name “to forever erase the part of her that her mother created” (Tyson 3). Therefore, Mrs. Hopewell “would not use it. She continued to call her Joy to which the girl responded but in a purely mechanical way” (O’Connor 458). Hulga is extremely proud of her name not only because of its ugly sound but because it resembles “the ugly sweating Vulcan who stayed in the furnace” (O’Connor 458). Even though the name reminded Mrs. Hopewell of “the broad blank hull of a battleship”, Hulga “saw it as the name of her highest creative act” (O’Connor 458). At a deeper level, Hulga’s name resembles the way she identifies herself. She chose the name not only for its ugly sound but the meaning behind it. When looking at her name in the modern Norwegian language, Hulga means “the holy one” (Holsen 59). This name is contradictory to Hulga’s beliefs because she states that she does not believe in God. Furthermore, the name Hulga is an anagram of the word “laugh”’

O’Connor uses Manley’s name to symbolize how he points out Joy’s weaknesses and makes her aware of her inattentiveness (Colas 1). Throughout the story, Joy encounters many eye-opening experiences. She learns many life lessons because of her vulnerability, with Manley as the teacher (Edmondson 64). Joy realizes that she has been deceived by Manley Pointer, a boy who she thought she could seduce. Manley Pointer assures Joy that she is not as intelligent as she thinks she is; he points out her weaknesses when he abandons her and says “you ain’t so smart” (O’Connor 469). Although Joy claims to see through to nothing, Manley clearly proves her false by seducing her in the end. It is not Joy who takes off her blindfold to see reality but Manley, her deceptive