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Jamie Gibson
Introduction to Literature 2220-501
Professor Kiewitz
Fiction Essay- Good Country People
October 8, 2016

In the short story, Good Country People, Flannery OConnor

introduces audiences to two significant characters in American literature;
Hulga Hopewell and her mother Mrs. Hopewell. The significance of these two
characters explain well the effects that an overprotective mother can have
her daughter as well as the way in which a daughters quest for rebellion can
lead her into a situation in which she had not foreseen. This is evident by
the cause and effect relationship that the story has from its first arc to its
last. The story asks one simple question of the reader. If sheltered all of life
due to a leg (which had been shot off in hunting accident when Joy [also
known as Hulga] was ten) (#12) and a weak heart (#18), would the
ultimate act of rebellion against a domineering mother place the reader into
a situation similar to Hulgas?
OConnor sets the story of Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga from the beginning
of the story. It is evident to the reader that there is a rift in the relationship
between the two. The author describes Mrs. Hopewells ideal of her
daughter brilliantly and precisely as with the best care, Joy (Hulga) might
see forty-five (#18). This simple piece of the story lays the groundwork for

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both the mother and the daughter in regards to the role each plays in the
others life. Mrs. Hopewell wishes more for her daughter than the type of life
that she currently lives. Yet, at the same time, she also somewhat pities the
woman that she refers to as still a child (#18). Hulga views her mother,
not as a nurturing matriarch, but, as more of a gatekeeper of sorts of the
type of woman that she wanted and wants to be. This made quite clear by
her acting out at her mother when she was twenty-one and away from
home (#13) and had her name legally changed (#13) from Joy to Hulga.
Further defiance is also suggested between the two in which Mrs. Hopewell
continued to call her Joy (#14) after her Hulgas name change and the way
in which Hulga responded in a purely mechanical way (#14).
Serving as an ecotone between Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga is the arrival
of Manley Pointer from out in the country around Willohobie, not even a
place, just from near a place (#41). Manley arrives at the residence of the
Hopewells to sell bibles. Mrs. Hopewell is short with the young man and
wanting to quickly divert him back in which the way he came until his
symbolic statement of this heart condition (#49) that he has. Mrs.
Hopewell immediately shifts in characterization by the condition that he and
Hulga (Joy) have in common.
Mrs. Hopewell begins to look at Manley as a possible companion to
Hulga. She immediately invites the stranger to stay for dinner. This builds
heavily on the groundwork previous made by the author in which Mrs.
Hopewell is protective of her daughter. OConnor utilizes Manley as a

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possible suiter who could remain protective of her daughter. However, Hulga
has other plans for Manley Pointer.
In Hulgas point of view, Manley could be an ultimate act of defiance
against her mother as well as step toward self-actualization by making
Manley her imagined seduce (#91). He represents to her an example of
how she is not the child that her mother still sees her as. Hulga and Manley
make plans to meet the following day and have lunch. Hulga spends the
night before and the morning of preparing for the date in a way only she
knows how; Vapex on her collarsince she didnt have any perfume (#92).
Reaching the gate where the two are to meet, Manley eventually shows.
At this point in the story, OConnor makes a case-in-point that Hulga is
meeting Manley f her own recognizance. She has not notified her mother
that she is going to meet him. This is important to the story due to it being
an event that Hulga has complete control over (at this point). Mrs. Hopewell
continues on in her normal fashion, not knowing what is currently happening
with her daughter, nor what will soon happen.
The major climax of the story, presented brilliantly near the end of the
story is that Manley Pointer is not a bible salesman. Before disclosing that
Pointer aint my really my name (#145), he makes off with Hulgas glasses
and prosthetic leg, leaving Hulga in a barn. The climax of this story serves
the reader two purposes. The first is the way in which Hulga somewhat lets
her guard down and allows herself to divulge in a kiss with Manley Pointer
and to rely on herself. The second purpose is the way in which Hulga is left

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in the barn. She has been left a victim of the world that Mrs. Hopewell has
been trying to protect her from. According to keepyourchildsafe.org, one
type of overprotection aims to manage a child's life or even limit certain
experiences altogether, not because they pose any inherent and reasonable
danger, but because they stoke a parent's anxieties or might make a child
uncomfortable. (Nelson) The significance of this is that Hulga barely knows
where she is and Mrs. Hopewell has no idea where Hulga is.
Flannery OConnor tells a much larger story in the shortness of the
sixteen pages that bind this story. The point of view in this story relies
heavily on the characters of Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga. The two each have
different points-of-view on Hulgas life. The author flows between the two
points of view to build a conflicting narrative of which point-of-view is the
correct one. In the end, as revealed, both are correct, each in their own way.
Mrs. Hopewell is correct in protecting her daughter from the world from the
harsh realities of a cruel world that is not filled with Good Country People
(#40). Hulga is right in the fact that she must venture out on her own, away
from a knowing mother, in order to experience the world that her mother had
protecting her from.
The story leaves the reader wondering how the next scene after the
final paragraph would be written. Would Hulga find her way back to Mrs.
Hopewell with stories of survival? Would Mrs. Hopewell venture out into the
cruel world to find her daughter that she cant ever truly protect her from?

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When the two characters are reunited, will a change in their relationship take
place based on how each now understands the actions of the other?

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Works Cited
Nelson, Jane. What Is Overprotective Parenting? The Signs and Definition of
Overprotecting. 01 01 2010. 08 10 2016.
<http://www.keepyourchildsafe.org/raising-children/what-isoverprotective-parenting-definition.html>.