FREE ESSAY ON GOOD COUNTRY PEOPLE

GOOD COUNTRY PEOPLE

Damian Carpenter
"Woman, Do You Ever Look Inside?"
There are many themes within Flannery O'Connor's short story "Good Country People".
Religion is definitely one of the more prominent themes that the story holds. Like most
of O'Connor's works, it plays a big part in the actions or characteristics of the main
characters. This is all on the surface however. The more important and less accentuated
theme is the various facades the characters create for themselves. These facades prevent
them from facing their true "grotesque" selves. These facades also hide their weaknesses
that they have no wish to face ort just can't understand. People must be comfortable with
every aspect of themselves, because certain people, who in this story are represented by
Manley Pointer's character, can easily exploit their weaknesses. He's "good country
people" and "the salt of the earth" as Mrs. Hopewell refers to Manley Pointer who really
is a demon that they must face. A demon to remind them of their weaknesses.
Beginning with Mrs. Hopewell, the title of the story comes from what she likes to call
the poorer and less fortunate people that live off the land and work their whole lives
just to hang on to some scrap of a life. This is how she views these people. She believes
that they are good country people not a bad seed among them, that they are all eager to
help out and bow in humility to the upper class. The gullible nature of Mrs. Hopewell
betrays her true vision of a situation. She is one of those people who are all
goody-goody to people who they view as less fortunate. She's a person that commends or
speaks for the people she knows nothing about. Altogether this is her true weakness that
is taken advantage of by Manley Pointer. One of Mrs. Hopewell's favorite sayings, Nothing
is perfect, is seen in the very beginning of the story. Her saying was just that, a
saying. The quote acts as foreshadowing for what her attitude towards life will be. We
later find out that she is right, but that she does not live by her credo. Manley Pointer
exploits this weakness as soon as she opened her door. Showing up as a pathetic bible
salesman with an ailing heart (which is coincidentally exactly what Joy-Hulga had) laying
the old guilt trip on Mrs. Hopewell on how no one wants to deal with a simple country boy
like himself, he attacks her weakness right at the heart of it. Not more than two minutes
after he knocked on the door, he ends up eating dinner with them and at the conclusion is
even invited to return any time he'd like. His persona blinds Mrs. Hopewell and prevents
her from being somewhat suspicious of Manley. At the end of the story, we see that Mrs.
Hopewell is still clouded by her weakness and refers to Manly as simple as he passes
through a field by Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman. Unlike Mrs. Hopewell, Joy-Hulga faces
and comes to a realization of her weakness.
Joy-Hulga, who had grown cynical and cold as she grew up with only one leg and heart
ailment, creates an image that she is smarter and better than the rest of the characters
in the story. Her education and self-absorption seemed to instill this attitude in her to
greater extent than if she hadn't studied and read so much. Her weakness is the feeling
of power she believed she gained from her studies. She refers to herself as a person who
"sees through nothing". Little does she know that she is stating her greatest weakness by
saying this. Her hidden desires cause her several problems later on. After years of
education and self-absorption, Joy-Hulga felt that she had no weaknesses. Science wishes
to know nothing of nothing and this is the credo followed by Joy-Hulga. Her line of
thinking turned out to be a weakness in itself. Her weaknesses are so prominent and
hurtful from her childhood that she doesn't want to be reminded of them. Manley Pointer
puts Joy-Hulga into a position where she feels in control. She took all his shame away
and turned it into something useful. She believes that she is manipulating Manley, but it
is he who is doing the manipulating. She lets her guard down because she feels in such
great control and becomes comfortable with Manley. She is being manipulated from the
start, and no amount of education can stop the fact that she doesn't see it coming. As
soon as she admits to loving Manley Pointer, he sees the opening to completely destroy
the fa?ade she worked so hard to create her whole life. Before Joy-Hulga even knows it,
her glasses are off and Manley has removed her leg. Physically she is broken down, but
the real damage is done mentally. She knows that all control of the situation is out of
her hands, and she once again feels the discomfort felt during her childhood days. Manley
Pointer exploits joy-Hulga's weakness to the fullest extent, because she never sees it
coming. Joy-Hulga believed she was superior because she learned to "see through nothing",
but she doesn't realize that Manley has known this much longer than she which is even
more prominent coupled with his seemingly lack of conscience.
Manley is the only character in the story that has no apparent weakness. Taking into
consideration the religious theme within the story, he takes on a persona of a devil-like
character. He seems to be an almost omniscient character, which would fall in line with a
powerful type of being. Being the protagonist in the story he acts not on an individual
level, but more of a level revolving around mankind. His use of religion as a tool to
carry out his acts of degradation and deception support this persona. He even says to
Joy-Hulga, "I hope you don't think I believe in that crap." Other things that represent
this devil-like character is the hollow bible in which he kept instruments of a sort of
sin. A definite clue to this is also when he also states to Joy-Hulga that He uses a
different name every place he goes. The fact that the devil is referred to by many
different names in all different regions of the world and different time throughout
history shows another similarity between Manley Pointer and the devil. Manipulation and
degradation seem to be his only objectives in life. At the conclusion of the story when
Manley is passing by Mrs. Freemen and Mrs. Hopewell, the onion shoots that they are
picking are even referred to as "evil smelling" the moment he passes.
Mrs. Freemen is more of a minor character in the story but she is referred to as having
two emotions, "forward and reverse". This is important because when a person is forced to
go in reverse they must face something or learn something they don't want to know about
themselves. This seems to be what happens during the course of the story for Joy-Hulga.
Although all the characters in the story are stuck in reverse, the only character that is
forced to realize her weakness, which destroys the fa?ade that she created is Joy-Hulga.
It seems that in this story as in life the most high and mighty suffers the greatest
fall. Joy-Hulga was the one who perceived herself to be the high and mighty of the
characters. This attitude is displayed with many of her comment to Mrs. Hopewell. Perhaps
when Joy-Hulga remarks to Mrs. Hopewell, "Woman, do you ever look inside?" she should've
taken her own advice.