In Good Country People, by Flannery O’ Conner, we are told to believe that country people are “the salt of the earth” which is mentioned in Matthew (5:13-16) and is said by Mrs. Hopewell a handful of times throughout the story. Salt in old days was considered collective but essential and reliable for preserving meat.
When Mrs. Hopewell refers to country people as being “the salt of the earth” she is referring to genuine and dependable people. O’ Conner uses “good country people” as a means to show stereotypes in people, which signifies values of characters, objects, and events throughout the story.In reality, even good “country” people have imperfections inside them that are not visible to others. The first character mentioned in detail is Mrs.
Freeman, who is a tenant farmer for the Hopewell’s. The last name Freeman represents both her personality and status as a human being. Mrs. Hopewell viewed the Freeman’s as “good country people” who were very reliable and honest, which was something hard to find in others. Moreover, when interacting with others Mrs. Freeman has two expressions she presents: forward and reverse.
She was a free-minded person, very nosey about other’s business, and could never be brought to admit herself wrong at any point. Mr. Freeman states in the beginning of the story, “She’s got to be into everything, if she don’t get there before the dust settles, you can bet she’s dead, that’s all” (O’ Conner 445). Another aspect about Mrs.
Freeman is that she fascinated about other’s secret illnesses, infections, hidden deformities, and assaults upon children.For instance, when Mrs. Hopewell would share details about Hulga’s hunting accident, Mrs. Freeman seemed so interested in it that she could hear it a countless number of times and still be amused. Mrs.
Freeman was always out to look for the negative secrets in peoples’ lives. When it came to status or fortune Mrs. Freeman could not contend with Mrs. Hopewell because she would never be more than a tenant hand; however, she did have more common sense than Mrs. Hopewell. While the two are conversing in the story, Mrs.
Hopewell tells Mrs. Freeman “You know you’re the wheel behind the wheel” Mrs. Freeman then says “I know it. I’ve always been quick. It’s some that are quicker than others” (O’Connor 446).
Mrs. Freeman is simply implying that she can quickly observe things in life and has more logic than others would give her credit for. The next character I would like to discuss is Joy / Hulga who has the leading role in the story. Throughout the story, we as a reader get to see both sides of Joy / Hulga.
She is a thirty-two year old woman who is well educated with a Ph. D. in philosophy, but is forced to live with her mother because of having a heart condition. She is so intelligent that she believes in nothing and thinks she is of higher standard than those around here.
As the story progresses, we learn she was involved in a hunting accident and had her leg shot off when she was ten. Joy represents happiness, but she had neither due to her leg and heart condition. When Joy turned twenty-one she did not feel happiness, so she changed her name to Hulga which represents “ugliness. ” As she mentioned in the story, “she had a vision of the name working like the ugly sweating Vulcan who stayed in the furnace and to whom, presumably, the goddess had to come when called. ” (O’ Conner 447).
She did this also to defy her mother, Mrs. Hopewell who has always given her criticism for the route of education she took.Changing her name to Hulga, she saw as her highest creative act. It was one of her key achievements that her mother had not been able to turn her dust in Joy, but rather the greater one was that she had been able to turn herself into Hulga. Lastly, I would like to mention Manley Pointer who appears toward the end of the story. Manley Pointer was a traveling bible salesman and when first introduced to the Hopewell’s comes off as a “good country person” in the eyes of those he encounters.
However, he is nothing more than a liar and manipulator, in the business for his personal greed.I believe Manley Pointer represents the devil in the story because he tries stealing the souls of those who he finds vulnerable to the real world. Moreover, the vulnerable soul he is focused on in the story turns out to be Hulga because of her wooden leg she relies so heavily upon. For instance, in the story it relates Hulga to her wooden leg, “No one ever touched it but her. She took care of it as someone else would his soul, in private and almost with her own eyes turned away” (O’ Conner 456). Manley Pointer had touched the truth about her and made her face her own guilt for the first time.
Hulga states “it was like losing her own life and finding it again, miraculously, in his” (O’ Conner 457). He then shows his true self (the devil) to her, by revealing what was truly in his valise. The hollow bible inside his valise signifies the good Manley Pointer hid his evil behind. I believe his valise represented hell because his end goal was to collect her wooden leg (soul) and use it for his own personal greed. The lesson O’ Conner is trying to reveal in the story is “never judge a book by its cover” (the bible in the story) because the minute you do it will end up being disappointed.
