Good Country People Literary Analysis

Words: 1046
Pages: 5
Open Document
The Reality of Naivete Flannery O’Connor is a writer who understands the South in all of it’s simplicity, politeness, falseness, and naivete. The values of the South are easily observed but significantly more difficult to understand. O’Connor does both with excellence, and conveys her wisdom masterfully in the story “Good Country People”. The value O’Connor portrays most prominently in the story is that of politeness and “Chrustian service”(O’Connor 449). O’Connor uses both Manley Pointer and Joy/Hulga to bring out the many flaws and the general ignorant naivete of southern values. At the same time, O’Connor is just as aware of the parallel naivete of those from the South who think they can reject all southern values without really understanding their background. This can be found in Joy/Hulga’s interactions with Manley, who is …show more content…
Hopewell’s traditional southern values. Mrs. Hopewell, although she speaks a great deal actually says little of substance. For example, she loves to repeat the phrase “Well it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round” (O’Connor 452). The statement itself is nice enough, it encourages a bland tolerance, but Mrs. Hopewell’s repetition of it as a reaction to everything she is faced with causes the phrase to lose meaning. Instead of actually believing the statement, Mrs. Hopewell throws it up as a defensive barrier. If she can wall herself in with tolerance, then she never has to deal with any conflict, or challenge to her point of view. Joy/Hulga, as both Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter and an atheist who rejects southern values is representative of all the problems that Mrs. Hopewell wants to avoid. Joy/Hulga is constantly challenging her, saying things like “Woman! Do you ever look inside? Do you ever look inside and see what you are not?” (O’Connor 448). To which Mrs. Hopewell responds with confusion. She is so far from self-awareness that she cannot understand why anyone would want to think for
Show More

Related Documents: Good Country People Literary Analysis

Response To Good Country People

Response Paper: Good Country People I chose Flannery O'Connor's short story, Good Country People for my response because of the analytical aspects of the text. The characters have very rich personalities and every action taken has its own reflection towards them. The entire text can be analyzed sentence by sentence to extend the story far beyond what is written in the nine pages of it. O’Connor also really amplifies the idea that not everybody might be as they seem or as they want to seem. With…

Words 679 - Pages 3

Non-Fiction Essay How Soccer Explains the World an Unlikely Theory of Globalization

stops for 90 minutes to witness that one thing we all understand, this is soccer. Soccer was first Recorded during the second and third centuries B.C. in China, where people would kick balls into small nets. The football association was started at the Freemason’s Tavern in 1863; it eventually would change to FIFA in 1904, as countries from around the world would join the association. (Jezek) Eventually as the association would expand and gain popularity they…

Words 3684 - Pages 15

House On Mango Street Essay

citations absent and/or incorrect. Commentary/Analysis Demonstrates a comprehensive grasp of the significant ideas in the literary work through focused, detailed analysis. Demonstrates a strong grasp of the significant ideas in the literary work through focused analysis. Demonstrates adequate understanding of basic ideas in the literary work through analysis. Some plot summary present. Fails to adequately demonstrate an understanding. Very little analysis present. Large section of plot summary. Conclusion…

Words 1159 - Pages 5

Bram Stoker Research Paper

Use this document to record your notes from the sources for your research project. Source- http://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/academic/article/384572/Literary-Criticism--Dracula-by-Bram-Stoker/ Other themes include: Good versus Evil, gender roles He was bedridden for a brief time. He had his blood drawn several times (could this have been what started his fascination with vampires and blood?). Bram Stoker was born in Ireland on November 8, 1847. He had 2 brothers. Bram Stoker went to a prep school…

Words 1004 - Pages 5

Funny In Farsi Literature Circle Role Sheet Analysis

the example addresses your thematic thread (analysis). THIS MUST BE TYPED! Reference with MLA page # (You can record the full quote or a portion of it using ellipses.) Author’s rhetorical device (Bullet 1=1 device used in reference; Bullet 2=Author’s purpose in using that strategy.) Significance: How does the example contribute to the thematic thread and ultimately create a theme as a whole? “It's not what we eat or don't eat that makes us good people; it's how we treat one another. As you grow…

Words 1816 - Pages 8

Essay about Goophered Grapes Pre Ready 1

James Campbell Dr. West Afro Am Lit 7/19/12 Goophered Grapes In the 10 years between the publication of "The Goophered Grapevine," Chesnutt's first conjure tale, and the composition of "The Dumb Witness," the development of segregation culture had even more firmly cemented the popular notions of black and white identifies in the United States. (Robison 61) Charles Chesnutt is credited as a pro-black writer for first being an African-American writer and then presenting the African-American experience…

Words 2722 - Pages 11

final exam Essay example

Professor Prapopoulos ENC 1102 April 23, 2015 Poverty and Criminality are just a Cover of the True Self Life is supposed to be all about good health, happiness and without violence, but that does not happen in South Africa. In South Africa, during the time of the law of apartheid, which meant that black people were separated from the white people, black people were the ones who suffered the most because of the lack of education, low income, violence, gangs, and the emergence of A.I.D.S. The continued…

Words 2823 - Pages 12

Examples Of An Analytical Paper

When writing an analytical paper – especially a piece of literary analysis – do your best to make the movement from your prose to the prose being studied and back to your prose as smooth and natural and non-jarring as possible. In order to do so: * Don’t start a paragraph with a passage. * Don’t allow a passage to exist as its own sentence. * Don’t cite a passage without commenting on it in some way. * Do provide context for the passages you cite. * Do cite passages from multiple…

Words 1052 - Pages 5

Hucleberry finn marxism Essay

and opinion of the same book changed when you read it at different periods in your life? 1) What is Marxism? Marxist Criticism is a theory of literary criticism that is based on the social and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel Beliefs -All texts have powerful moral, social, and political effects -Reflective of author’s own class analysis Goals -Meant to propose social realism -Shows how can characters overcome oppression -Try to pursue classless society, by provoking reader to an…

Words 1307 - Pages 6

Rhetorical Analysis Pearl Harbor Speech

Speech Analysis World War II was one of the two biggest wars that ever happened in the world. It caused hundred of thousand of death and had a significant effect on the global political and economic. Pearl Harbor was the big event in World War II, and it also was the main reason led the United States to the war. On December, 7th 1941, Japanese naval and air forces attacked the Pearl Harbor at Honolulu, Hawaii caused thousand of American's life. On the following day, President of the United States…

Words 804 - Pages 4