Good Country PeopleEssay Preview: Good Country PeopleReport this essayThesis Statement: In Flannery OConnors short story “Good Country People,” the expulsion of the outside world allows for more emphasis on the symbolic nature of each of the active characters.
I. The KitchenA. Introduction of the charactersB. Symbolic use of names in Free.man and Hope.wellC. Introduction of the outside worldII. The Bible SalesmanA. The faД§ade of namesB. The absence of other menC. Separation from the Outside worldIII. The Barn LoftA. Opening the gate for failureB. Scaling the ivory towerC. Widening the scope from detail to generalIn the short story “Good Country People,” by Flannery OConnor the world is made smaller in order to look with great scrutiny at the players of this game of life. There is very little going on of consequence in the action plot, but massive movement in the character arc. In order to achieve this OConnor focuses in on the key personality traits of the characters. The narrator first introduces two families of social classes that are stratified by money, yet paralleled in some ways. Mrs. Hopewell, a widowed mother of an adult child, lives in a neatly circumscribed life of documented social correctness. Her daughter Hulga, whom has changed her name from Joy, lives with her mother in only a physical sense. She sees herself as above the country by virtue of a higher education. In this case, a PhD in Philosophy which frightens her mother and does nothing to alleviate her self imposed confinement in the rural setting. Mrs. and Mr. Freeman are introduced with their daughters Glynese, and Caramae. Of the four only Mrs. Freeman is seen in the story as a participant, the others used as a means to further the argument of sound common sense and hearth wisdom. Examples of these are the discussions of marriage in the church vs. the courthouse, chiropractic care for a sty, and the eating of prunes to alleviate cramping.
The symbolism of the chosen names is clear, and OConnor places a great deal of emphasis on them. For example, Hulgas choice of shifting from Joy to a name which reminds her of Vulcan is discussed at some length. After loosing her leg at the age of ten, and remaining aware for the entire episode, she is stripped of the capacity for Joy, and Hope both. The Freeman name is a direct play on the status of the family as tenant farmers, as while Mrs. Freeman may come in and rest her elbow on the refrigerator as she likes, the family is certainly not free, nor will they ever enjoy the social or financial freedom of the Hopewells. This last name is likewise given a dual meaning. Mrs. Hopewell in simply incapable of doing less than assuming all is well that ends well. The bible salesman even alludes to a direct play on the family
Another very similar theme is found in the name. The most common use of a name in the Hopewell family is referring to the individual who has suffered a debilitating heart attack that has given his wife that very particular name. This happens with her name. She is a victim of it, and if she is unable to heal her death as an individual, she will take her children and grandchildren to those orphanages whose doctors are on her side (see a later scene). The name of the family may come at a time when she is struggling. Or, if she has found herself fighting with a lot of guilt (e.g. when she is fighting with a lot of money), it may come at a time when she, too, is suffering with little self-control or self-control. One of the family’s most common forms of love or affection is when they find common ground in life, and we find that one of these is not so different to the other. The family name, on the other hand, is often an expression of a connection with a community, or is a metaphor for a community. While most of that community may come from the same family, it might be more likely that a group of people may share their own knowledge of their local geography, and the history and geography that they find familiar. This can lead to the understanding of different parts of the world as “different” parts, or some combination of the two.