In a 1968 article in The Sewanee Review, Ruth Vande Kieft stated, "This small but brilliant body of fiction constitutes for many readers a kind of serious and profound moral tease. They have felt a kind of unwilling fascination, an uneasy blend of attraction to and revulsion from her fiction, which springs from uncertainty about the moral and religious vision concealed in these strangely grotesque and violent flowerings of her imagination."
Many O'Connor critics focus on her Catholocism and the "grace" her fiction evokes. Others find this problematic. For your blog post, keep these sentiments (and Vande Kieft's insight) in mind with respect to O'Connor's "Good Country People."
This post is only for people who enrolled late in the course and have yet to write a blog post (though this does not preclude the rest of you from reading their insights). As always, 200-400 words (and strive to impress us with your intellect).
Due Monday by midnight.
Ryan Trull
ReplyDeleteIn O'Connor's short story, "Good Country People," Catholicism is seen from a few angles. In one portrayal, there is the instance of Pointer being accepted by Mrs. Hopewell because her catholic values seem to line up with Pointer's values. Mrs. Hopewell is also portrayed as a mostly open person who tries to accept everyone for who they are. She can be called the good side of catholicism.
The foil of this can be seen in Joy, or Hulga, the educated atheist. She does all she can to pull away from her roots and is portrayed as an exact opposite to Mrs. Hopewell throughout. Ultimately though, the two accept each other. This leads to the idea that Joy is only acting out due to the stress caused from her accident at an early age. This can be seen as the rebellious nature of people who think beyond what they are merely told about a religion.
Then we are presented with Pointer. He comes in and manipulates Joy into giving her leg to him. Her initial willingness to go out with him shows her true desire for normalcy. Whenever pointer mentions the leg, it reminds her of her differentness and she acts out, leading to further belief that she really just wants to be accepted. When he finally makes off with her leg, it's almost as if he stole her essence. She no longer had what made her physically different and probably felt that her intellectual difference had been completely disregarded as Pointer made off with his smug remark.
Sydney Wright
ReplyDeleteWith the obvious strong sense of religion seeping through this story, anyone who takes a look at “Good Country People” can see the influence of Flannery O’Connor’s Catholicism in her characters. “Good Country People” was just a struggle of self-identity and seeking comfort in other places rather than religion.
Almost anyone with the ability to think has once questioned what to believe in and who to depend on. Some turn to religion, some to drugs, and others to Star Trek conventions. Whatever it may be that people choose to confide in, it gives them a sense of security. This is what Hulga’s leg was for her. She used it as a weapon to shield her from any unwanted conversation and undesirable situations. Hulga’s wooden leg would always be there and in a way made her feel special; somewhat more important than others. As soon as Hulga lowered her guard allowing Manley to see the prosthetic leg, she became vulnerable and completely dependent on Manley. All it took was a little manipulation from the other side to get Hulga to abandon what she had always followed and believed in.
O’Connor shows her opinion of the consequences for abandoning one’s beliefs. Hulga’s leg could have represented O’Connor’s dependency on the Catholic faith and her fears about what could result in straying.
Jonathan Gipson
ReplyDeleteIn Vande Kieft's review, she stated that the reader feels "an uneasy blend of attraction to and revulsion from her fiction" in O'Connor's work. That same feeling can be "felt" in this piece. It has to be kept in mind that this work was composed in 1955 and morals and standards were a little different than what is commonly accepted today.
Firstly, O’Connor juxtaposes things that make the reader feel uncomfortable (an artificial leg, a childhood accident, vomiting of a pregnant mother) and the obvious religious overtones that would give comfort to a person in 1955. These two concepts are at odds with one another and have a way of repulsing and comforting the reader simultaneously. The reader feels the effects of the unknown from the amputee and it scares him, but he can find a bit of peace in the religious aspects of the story.
Also, a big juxtaposition in the story comes from the idea of “good Southern people” while at the same time knowing that no one can live up to that standard. The reader is attracted by the notion that some people are basically simple and good at heart. People want to believe that others are better than themselves and are just “salt of the earth” individuals with no dark secrets. At the same time the reader is attracted to this, he is repulsed by knowing, whether he accepts it or not, that all people share a common trait, character flaws. The reader knows that no one’s morality is perfect and this pushes him away.
Flannery O'Connor uses her short stories as a platform to convey her Catholic beliefs. In "Good Country People," she uses the characters to represent her beliefs.
ReplyDeleteJoy, or Hulga, is an educated philosopher that rejects the idea of God. When she is talking to the salesman she says, " We are all damned, but some of us have taken off our blindfolds and see that there is nothing to see. It's a kind of salvation." O'Connor uses Hulga as a backlash toward scientific or philosophic thought. She is a bitter and unpleasant personality reflects the antithesis of Christian values.
Manley Pointer is a poor, country Bible salesman that pretends to be a devout Christian. O'Connor uses Pointer to represent Christian hypocrites. He says and does many things that harm other people for his own selfish gain. O'Connor cautions her readers to be careful of people who pretend to do and say one thing and believe another.
Mrs. Hopewell is a caring and loving woman. Her character in this story depicts Christian value. She is an open-minded woman that accepts everyone for who they are. She is not necessarily wealthy, but from the story we can infer that she is slightly educated and financially stable and helps out people that are less fortunate. We can see this through her relationship with the Freeman family. She not only helped them out by giving them a job but she also accepts them. It an also be seen in how she responds to the Bible salesman and asks gun to stay for dinner. Several times in this short story that, "country people are the salt of the earth." We can see her deep care for people through this quote. She has compassion and love for these people that are less fortunate for her even though, by society's means, they are more inferior. Mrs. Hopewell's personality and demeanor is contrasted to that of her daughter's.