Hulga is just as vulnerable as anyone else is, although she does not want to admit it. Hulga's leg also symbolizes her vulnerability and her pride. She is the only one who touches it, and it is part of what makes her unique and different. While she is ashamed of it, she is also intensely proud of it, because it, like her education, sets her apart from others. It is another way, in her own distorted manner, that she thinks she is better than others are. The author continues, "But she was as sensitive about the artificial leg as a peacock about his tail. No one ever touched it but her. She took care of it as someone else would his soul, in private and almost with her own eyes turned away" (O'Connor). Hulga is a very complex character, but so is Manley, the Bible salesman. (His name is as full of symbolism as Hulga's). His real reason for seducing Hulga is to add her leg to his collection, and he manipulates her perfectly to accomplish his goal, which underscores...
She is helpless and now realizes that she is truly in need of saving. Now, O'Connor seems to be suggesting, she is actually in a position where the Word of God, which actually does promise salvation, may come to her. It speaks of the virtue of humility, which she is now in a position to develop -- not because she realizes it as of yet but because she is
Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor is a story that illustrates how deceptive appearances can be and what errors are made when people hide behind their own cliched perceptions instead of thinking clearly about situations. The main plot of the story involving Hulga illustrates this theme. As well as this, O'Connor offers many other references to the theme via the other characters, the events and symbols in the work. An
Good Country People Some can't be that simple," she said. "I know I never could." This is how the story ends and somehow, it seems to cover the entire short story. What we see is not always what we get and the way that people do present themselves is seldom what we will also find deep in their souls. The short story presents a few casual characters, rather dull country people who
Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor and "Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway When Coming of Age is Too Much The coming-of-age story is a classic of literature, from The Adventures of Huck Finn to Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders, and learning the lessons of being an adult is never easy. The journey from childhood to adulthood requires a loss of innocence and idealism, which sometimes come at a very
Good Country People: Metaphor and Irony Joy Hulga is the main character of Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People." She represents the proud, young educated student who has renounced any faith in Christ. As her mother Mrs. Hopewell puts it to Manley Pointer, the Bible salesman, "My daughter is an atheist and won't let me keep the Bible in the parlor" (O'Connor 278). Manley turns out to be both Joy's double and
Everything That Rises Meets Good Country PeopleThe characters and situations of Flannery O�Connor�s stories give a unique glimpse into a grotesque world of the South�a world that O�Connor used to draw meaning about the moment of grace that touches and changes characters� lives forever (Fitzgerald). To do this, she often focused on the relationship between mystery and manners in everyday Southerners� lives, but did so in a way that relied
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