Irony in Good Country People
Good Country People by Flannery O’Conner, touches upon the identities of Christians of Southern America and also focuses on the part played by intellectualism and physical challenges in the development of identity of individuals. The entire plot is spiced with tearing irony. There are four clear sections in the story emphasizing the relationships between four prime characters. The irony of the story encompasses the social and religious parameters and the rude outlook about disabilities.
The main character is Joy or Hulga who had lost her leg in an accident. This made her withdraw from the physical field to the intellectual world. Her mother Mrs. Hopewell named her Joy – a name that suited the way the mother related …show more content…
Hopewell is also hopeful and cheerful that the Freeman family would live up to her expectations. Hope made her see negative points in a positive manner. For instance, Mrs. Freeman was extremely nosy but instead of frowning upon this trait, Mrs. Hopewell analyzed that it was the job of this woman to be nosy and know everything. This gave Mrs. Freeman a free hand and in the very name the author has woven in the character’s trait. Mrs. Hopewell immediately trusts the salesman Pointer and accepts him at face value, eking a living by selling the word of God. He also wove a story about a weak heart condition appealing to her motherly instincts. She immediately rose to the bait and invited him to a meal; practically made him one of the family. Ironically he repaid her by trying to seduce her daughter into the family …show more content…
Hopewell feels strongly about the Freeman family being ‘good country people’. Afterwards she thinks the same of Pointer. When he introduces himself as country boy simple and naïve she says “Why! Good country people are the salt of the earth!” (O 'Connor, 2002, p.7). Through her character and her views the author high lights the irony of the contradiction – what she thought the world to be and what the world really is. Mrs. Freeman has no false view about the realities of life and does not accept anyone at their face value but ironically she uses this clarity to focus only on the gruesome aspects of life – not on the positive
Good Country People by Flannery O’Conner, touches upon the identities of Christians of Southern America and also focuses on the part played by intellectualism and physical challenges in the development of identity of individuals. The entire plot is spiced with tearing irony. There are four clear sections in the story emphasizing the relationships between four prime characters. The irony of the story encompasses the social and religious parameters and the rude outlook about disabilities.
The main character is Joy or Hulga who had lost her leg in an accident. This made her withdraw from the physical field to the intellectual world. Her mother Mrs. Hopewell named her Joy – a name that suited the way the mother related …show more content…
Hopewell is also hopeful and cheerful that the Freeman family would live up to her expectations. Hope made her see negative points in a positive manner. For instance, Mrs. Freeman was extremely nosy but instead of frowning upon this trait, Mrs. Hopewell analyzed that it was the job of this woman to be nosy and know everything. This gave Mrs. Freeman a free hand and in the very name the author has woven in the character’s trait. Mrs. Hopewell immediately trusts the salesman Pointer and accepts him at face value, eking a living by selling the word of God. He also wove a story about a weak heart condition appealing to her motherly instincts. She immediately rose to the bait and invited him to a meal; practically made him one of the family. Ironically he repaid her by trying to seduce her daughter into the family …show more content…
Hopewell feels strongly about the Freeman family being ‘good country people’. Afterwards she thinks the same of Pointer. When he introduces himself as country boy simple and naïve she says “Why! Good country people are the salt of the earth!” (O 'Connor, 2002, p.7). Through her character and her views the author high lights the irony of the contradiction – what she thought the world to be and what the world really is. Mrs. Freeman has no false view about the realities of life and does not accept anyone at their face value but ironically she uses this clarity to focus only on the gruesome aspects of life – not on the positive