Good Country People
Encyclopedia
"Good Country People" is a short story
by Flannery O'Connor
. It was published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find
. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.
A Bible salesman, purportedly named Manly Pointer, visits the family and is invited for dinner despite the Hopewells' lack of interest in purchasing Bibles. Mrs. Hopewell believes Manly is "good country people." While leaving the home, Pointer invites Joy for a picnic date the next evening, and she ironically imagines seducing the innocent Bible salesman. During the date, he persuades her to go up into the barn loft where he produces a hollowed-out Bible containing a bottle of whiskey and some condoms. He then persuades her to remove her prosthetic leg and her glasses. He tries to get her to drink some liquor, but she rebuffs his advances. At that point he disappears with her leg after telling her that he collects prostheses from disabled people and is an atheist.
In "Good Country People," O'Connor uses irony and a finely controlled comic sense to reveal the world as it is - without vision or knowledge. As in O'Connor's story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a stranger - deceptively polite but ultimately malevolent - intrudes upon a family with destructive consequences. In Hulga's case, despite her advanced academic degrees, she is unable to recognize evil until it is too late.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
. It was published in 1955 in her short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find
A Good Man Is Hard To Find
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by American author Flannery O'Connor. The collection was first published in 1955...
. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.
Plot summary
Mrs. Hopewell owns a farm in rural Georgia which she runs with the assistance of her tenants, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman. Mrs. Hopewell's daughter, Joy, is thirty years old and lost her leg in a childhood accident. Joy is an atheist and has a Ph.D. in philosophy but seems non-sensible to her mother, and in an act of rebellion against her mother, Joy changed her name to "Hulga," the ugliest name Mrs. Hopewell can imagine.A Bible salesman, purportedly named Manly Pointer, visits the family and is invited for dinner despite the Hopewells' lack of interest in purchasing Bibles. Mrs. Hopewell believes Manly is "good country people." While leaving the home, Pointer invites Joy for a picnic date the next evening, and she ironically imagines seducing the innocent Bible salesman. During the date, he persuades her to go up into the barn loft where he produces a hollowed-out Bible containing a bottle of whiskey and some condoms. He then persuades her to remove her prosthetic leg and her glasses. He tries to get her to drink some liquor, but she rebuffs his advances. At that point he disappears with her leg after telling her that he collects prostheses from disabled people and is an atheist.
In "Good Country People," O'Connor uses irony and a finely controlled comic sense to reveal the world as it is - without vision or knowledge. As in O'Connor's story "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a stranger - deceptively polite but ultimately malevolent - intrudes upon a family with destructive consequences. In Hulga's case, despite her advanced academic degrees, she is unable to recognize evil until it is too late.