Good Country People Identity

In Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor Joy the protagonist struggles with her identity due to influence from her family and community which negatively impact her relationships as an adult. Joy is the eldest daughter of a rich farming family but her childhood health issues caused her to alienated from society and culture. She carries the burden of these health issues which send her into a rebellious state were she becomes resentful of everyone and has no sympathy for peoples problems. The lasting impact from these formative years cause Joy to become rebellious, clueless, and easily impressionable to others. Joy grows up fast and makes life altering decisions as a teen that changes her identity such as changing her name to Hulga. O’Connor

Pointer is a “bible salesman” who uses his southern charm to manipulate Hulga into sleeping with him and giving him her prosthetic leg the narrator says,”He was gazing at her with open curiosity, with fascination, like a child watching a new fantastic animal at the zoo”. Hulga misreads his gaze and thinks that she will dominate him when in fact she is the one in the cage and he is the one that is free. Hulga has been living at home with her mother for her whole life how can she believe that she is superior to him. Having her mother coddle her has never let her experience the worst aspects of society. Due to this outsiders view her as harmless like a caged animal at the zoo. Eventually when he decides that it is time for some alone time they head away alone to the barn. This is showing her immaturity due to the fact the she is taking a stranger to bed with her. When in the barn Pointer asks if he can take off her prosthetic leg and she agrees, “She gave a little cry of alarm but he pushed her down and began to kiss her again. Without the leg she felt entirely dependent on him. Her brain seemed to have stopped thinking altogether and to be about some other function that it was not very good at.” At this moment Hulga is at her most vulnerable but still believes she is smarter than Pointer. HE eventually steals her leg and has taken a piece of something that is apart of her identity. The prosthetic leg has almosted acted like a crutch and when it is gone Hulga realizes that she is a fool. When he leaves Ms. Hopewell still believes that he is a good man because he presented himself as one. Hulga presents the same way that she identifies with herself which is a helpless 32 year