Good Country People Literary Analysis

In the story, “Good Country People,” there are many themes; however, the main theme is identity. Throughout the story, many identities are shown but by the end of the story the real identities of the characters are revealed. O’Connor enlightens the reader they may often be fooled directly by an individual who is pursuing a separate identity. For example, during the story, the Bible Salesman fools the community by betraying their trust in him, Mrs. Hopewell rudely misjudges others, and Joy characterizes herself poorly. The Bible Salesman, named Manley, attempts to sell a bible to Mrs. Hopewell in hope of making some money. However, Mrs. Hopewell denied his persistence personality by claiming she is already a good, christian lady who always keep a bible beside her when she sleeps. After denying him, Manley seeks to …show more content…
Hopewell exhibits the theme of identity during “Good Country People.” She is a very strong, kind, and independent woman who owns her own farm and hires her own employees to work below her. On the contrary, Mrs. Hopewell portrays herself to be somewhat superior to everyone in her life, and she often identifies people before they have the opportunity to identify themselves. For example, Mrs. Hopewell sadly identifies her own daughter as a “child” instead of a strong, young woman. On page 455, O’Connor writes, “Here she went about all day in a six year old skirt and a yellow sweatshirt with a faded cowboy embossed on it.” This proves how Mrs. Hopewell is mentally abusive when Joy tries to identify herself. Another instance within the short story is when Mrs. Hopewell explains there are two types of people in the world: “the good country people” and “trash.” The author allows Mrs. Hopewell to drastically misidentify characters in the story to prove that the most evident theme is indeed, identity. O’Connor uses these instances as a lesson for the reader to come to realization that people are not always who or what they appear to be on the