A Circle In The Fire And Good Country People Summary

In two short stories by Flannery O’Connor, “A Circle in the Fire,” and “Good Country People,” it appears that O’Connor is attempting to create compassion for her female leads, but in a deceptive manner. In doing so, she is seemingly playing on the sympathetic emotions of the reader to create a feminist character in a place and time that would have positioned a woman, generally speaking, in a subservient role to a man. O’Connor, in creating this new role, introduces Mrs. Cope and Mrs. Hopewell as female protagonists, but without a true male counterpart. As such, both attempt to survive in a man’s world with their own unique strategy and, in doing so, both gain a sense of sympathy and respect as their story develops, though …show more content…
Cope and Mrs. Hopewell play in these two stories is essentially the same, as both are offered as single women running a 1950’s farm in the southern United States. While it was once thought that only a man could handle the position of owner/manager/employer, these women, based on their economic circumstances, are forced into this position as a means of survival. Though this role is outside that which would have been commonplace for a southern lady, O’Connor shows us that both are able to handle their property quite well for a time, despite others around them seemingly working against their efforts. The farm that each woman oversees is done so as an extension of their own home, a nice addition to the story by O’Connor, as the reader knows that a southern woman is more than capable of handling the responsibility of homemaker. This also links the respect and compassion needed for each character as their true identities begin to show …show more content…
Hopewell is introduced as a nice single woman in charge of running her farm without the help of a male complement. Though, unlike Mrs. Cope’s circumstances, Mrs. Hopewell is divorced, presenting a sense of self-determination and competence. In meeting her, O’Connor also introduces Joy, her daughter who graduated from college, a benefit presumably paid for through the income created by her mother through the family farm. Early on, Mrs. Freeman, a hired hand, is also introduced, seemingly to show the differences in characteristics displayed by a married worker and an unmarried owner. Through this story, O’Connor offers a female protagonist, much like she did through Mrs. Cope, as a woman with redeeming qualities and intent to create betterment for others. In the same sense, she is offering a condescending, patronizing, and hypocritical person whom the reader tends to forgive because of the lesser qualities found in those surrounding