Irony In Good Country People By Flannery O Connor

The concealment of a deeper meaning through the use of irony is a powerful tool that can be utilized to bring about a greater impact to the actual meaning of what was intended. The use of irony is more common than it is thought to be, thus resulting in an incorrect use of the language device. In the article “Word police: irony & ironic” it is stated, “People routinely use without knowing what they mean. No one seems to use the dictionary anymore--and thus they end up sounding ignorant.”(1). This statement proposed that many a times literary devices are used wrongly therefore taking away from the hidden potential of impacting a person's thought into reasoning the deeper meaning of the phrase or statement. Irony is the use of words to describe

One of the most ironic aspects of Hulga is the fact that she knows so little about herself even though she prides herself on her wide reading and her knowledge. At one point, Hulga exclaims to her mother, “Woman! Do you ever look inside? Do you ever look inside and see what you are not? God!” (4). The irony here is that it is Hulga that doesn’t look inside and it is Hulga that doesn’t try to understand herself and discover the true potential of her mind and body. The writer portrays Hulga to seem as though she is on top of every situation by making Hulga think she was in control of whatever the outcome with Manley Pointer was set to be, she also assumed Manley Pointer would be easy to seduce when in fact it was Hulga that got seduced, she assumed she was much more powerful and self-control than she really is. Another instance of this is when Hulga though she doesn’t identify as being a Christian or even believe in Christianity she was baffled at the fact that Manley failed to live up to the values of being a Christian as seen when she says, "You're a Christian!" (13). Ruth Holsen writer for Explicator states, “She is longing for innocence, for purification and for an ‘Edenic world’. She is seeking, unconsciously a spiritual perfection that is holy in nature.” Ruth proposed that even though Hulga throughout the text has come across as a person who thinks she knows herself, holds herself in high regard and cannot be easily influenced; on an unconscious level she always knew there was more to herself than what meets the eye. Therefore, the ironic circumstances surrounding Hulga throughout the text showcases that nothing is as it