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How Does O Connor Present The Theme Of Identity In Good Country People

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"Jesus shown everything off balance. It was the same case with Him as with me except He hadn't committed any crime and they could prove I had committed one because they had the papers on me. Of course," - A Good Man Is Hard To Find. This quote from Flannery O’Conner’s short story symbolizes the complex idea that there's no proof of the existence of god. And although this is portrayed in a pessimistic way, it is a valid argument to make that O’Connor tries to make her readers think about and answer. Many people believe that O’Connor could have better used her skill as a writer to make stories that aren’t half as depressing on life but, the message that she communicates about humanity is the dark reality without the veil of light. So, O'Connor's …show more content…

Hulga is a stubborn-minded young woman that believes she is superior to others because they are delusional. This is a result of her losing her leg as a young girl and it causes her to believe in nothing. When she tries to seduce the bible salesman Manley Pointer, she talks about how life is meaningless and reassurance in faith leads to false …show more content…

O’Conner provides us with critical viewpoints about human nature, perception, values, real issues, truth, morals, and internal spiritual struggle. Everyone has some purpose or meaning that they try to find and long for, yet most of us will risk what makes us humans to achieve that enlightenment which in most cases, contradicts it. The idea of image and identity is also tied in with values because who we are comes down to what we value and how we compose ourselves to attain or uphold that. Now in O’Connor’s stories, she takes the worst out of humans and slowly peels the layers off of their being to show the readers who people truly are, what they want, what kind of truths can we learn from them, what morals they uphold, and what kind of conflicts that they have. By understanding these complex questions, the reality of things can be shown and it can even help enlighten the reader to question themselves. So, we come to ask ourselves, “What does this imply about Flannery O’Conner?” Well, this not only shows her creative story-crafting talents and critical thinking skills, but it also shows that she is someone who cares about the truth and bluntness in life. And although she included the idea of religion based on her environment growing

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This breakdown in secular knowledge is revealed through Hulga’s loss of her glasses and her artificial leg, the two symbols of her intellectual acumen. Although Hulga claims to “see through to nothing’” and has “taken off our blindfolds,” she only possesses a nonspiritual vision (O’Connor 287-288). When Pointer takes her glasses she does not notice, but when her artificial leg is seized she “felt entirely dependent on him” and “stopped thinking all together” (O’Connor 289). The glasses and the artificial leg are both things that Hulga takes pride in, but they also prove to be symbols of her vulnerability. Thus, now that Hulga no longer has the glasses to only see the secular world and the artificial leg to stand on her own, she is ready to experience her epiphany.

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Hulga shares this characteristic when it comes to her attempt to seduce Manley, “[s]he imagined that she took his remorse in hand and changed it into a deeper understanding of life” (O’Connor 293). Despite their shared qualities, Hulga’s believed superiority hinders her ability to look deeper. While she is resentful of her mother’s simple expressions, she does not know what she actually believes about others. This emphasizes Hulga’s lack of awareness of her mother’s true beliefs, which in turn highlights her inability to think critically about others. Furthermore, Mrs.Hopewell’s misleading comments regarding her religion also reveal faults in Hulga’s thinking.

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