Good and Evil in Good Country People Essay example -- people

Good and Evil in Good Country People In Good Country People by Flannery OConnor, the masked truth is reflected unequivocally through the reality in the story, its equal counterpart. For every good or sin thing, there is an antagonist or opposing force. Each character has a duplicate personality mirrored in someone else in the story. In the story, the name calling and personalities of the characters clash. The name is the mask covering the personality, which is representative of the reality aspect of each character. When Mrs. Hopewell named her daughter rapture, she was hoping for all the joy that comes with raising a kid and watching the child develop a life of its own. What Mrs. Hopewell received was a disabled daughter who lived miserably at home and was the antithesis of everything her mother believed. The name Hulga is also a mask. When Joy changed her name to Hulga, Mrs. Hopewell had made up her mind that Joy had thought and thought until she hit upon the ugliest name in any language (OConnor 299). Although Joy-Hulga chose the name because of its ugly salubrious and how well it suited her, she secretly desired an inner self that was beautifully unique (Bloom 99). The name Manley, the Bible salesman, has similar implications. The name Manley includes the word man, but he is constantly revealed through his child-like acts such as his mumbling was like the sleepy fretting of a child (OConnor 307). OConnor also refers to him as having sweet breath like a childs and his kisses were sticky like a childs (307). The beginning of the story, Good Country People, is misleading. At first, the story points to Mrs. Freeman and Manley Pointer as being good country people. consort to Mrs. Hopewell t... ... the story. Flannery OConnor portrayed both the good and the diabolical side of human nature. She also explored religious issues that are prevalent in todays society. The struggle between good and evil and real and hidden truths build the foundations for Goo d Country People. Works Cited Bloom, Harold, ed. Flannery OConnor. New York Chelsea, 1986. Humphries, Jefferson. The Otherness Within Gnostic Readings in Marcel Proust, Flannery OConnor, and Francois Villion. Baton Rouge lanthanum State UP, 1983. May, John R. The Pruning Word The Parables of Flannery OConnor. Notre Dame, IN U of Notre Dame P, 1976. OConnor, Flannery. Good Country People. Literature Reading, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York McGraw-Hill, 1994. 297-310. Walters, Dorothy. Flannery OConnor. New York Twayne, 1973.