Introductions
Good country people is a novel by Flannery O'Connor that highlights on the life of a young educated but disabled girl. She is a girl who has been frustrated by life that she feels her name, Joy, was not rightly given to her. She changes it to Hulga, which signifies dissatisfaction, misery and the frustrations that life has thrown her way. O'Connor has used different characters in the book to bring out the character of Joy and the reason behind some of the happenings in her life. In this paper, we shall critically analyze the book and come up with a research material that describes the events of the book. People who have read the book have come up with their own opinions of what they believe were the intentions behind O'Connor’s writing. Even though some are considered biased, others have been considered valid especially when you consider the plot and setting of the book.
Analysis of themes and characters
There is a lot that can be derived from the literature especially when themes and characters are considered. Disability and its effects on the victim is a theme that has come out strongly in the book. Most of the frustrations that Joy goes through in her life is because of her disability. Her leg was short and she also has a bad eyesight. This factors hinder her from major achievements in life despite the fact that she is learned and mature in age. By bringing out such drawbacks, O'Connor reveals to us how much a physical disability can coast a persons physical and psychological wellbeing (Schuster 83). The fact that she cannot manage life without the help of glasses and prosthetic leg makes her appear useless and immature. Joy has tried in many occasions to use her age and educational qualifications to gain much in life but she is disappointed when a lesser person uses her disability to frustrate her.
Joy has also been presented as an immature girl who cannot be respected by anyone. O'Connor uses her mother to reveal the immature nature of her daughter. In as much as she tries to behave her age, she is haunted by the words of her mother, which are despiteful. She has been described as a teenager who is rude and does not know how to dress. From this analysis, we realize how much power words can have on an individual. It also matters who speaks such words to a person. It should be noted that some of the frustrations that are faced by Joy are caused by her mother who seem not to support her. This may also signify the fact that Joy is being looked down on by her mother because of her disability (O'Connor 36). Her disability, which she acquired at a young age, has hindered her from growing normally. Instead of her mother assisting her, she despises her and hence makes her feel useless and unwanted.
Joy’s disability is a weakness, which she works hard to counter and overcome. People who have such weaknesses realize how much they would be discriminated and hence looking for means through which they will be acceptable in the society. One of the ways that Joy counters her disability is through her education (North Carolina Wesleyan College 18). Education is an extra advantage that she has which she hoped would help her obtain what she wanted including her suitor. She has also been described as being proud and rude; this could have been adopted just to help her feel special and important. Despite her disabilities, Joy demanded to be respected and accepted considering her age and academic achievement. She reasoned within herself and knew that she had worked hard in class despite the weaknesses she had to achieve the highest academic level.
The ultimate of her disability being translated to inability have also been revealed through Manly, a door-to-door bible salesman who is also an atheist. Joy sees this as an opportunity to seduce him considering that she more educated than she did. To her disappointment, it turns to be the other war round where she is seduced by the man and robbed off her equipments. The glasses and the prosthetic leg are her main stronghold as they cover her disability. The man not only flees with these important gargets but also reveals his identity as an atheist. This caught Joy by surprise because she could not imagine that a man she had actually looked down on could trick her to such a level. This must have affected her psychologically and made her feel more useless and ugly. She realized that with her disability, not even her education could help her get out of certain situation. She had been stripped off her pride which she realized lied in her glasses and leg support.
It is important to know that names say a lot about a person’s character and will determine how life will unfold. Hopewell must have realized how a name would impart on her daughter and decided to give her a name that signified joy. However, as it turned out, the name lost meaning when it was changed. In as much as she tried her best, her name would ultimately define her character and the kind of life that she lived (Schuster 56). Through this analysis, O'Connor must have wanted to emphasize on the importance of choosing and having a name that inspire us into having a positive future. The fact that Joy chose an alternative name for herself meant that she had completely lost hope of being ever joyful again. Though she blamed her miserable life on her mother and tenants, this was a personal decision that she ultimately had to suffer.
The other theme, which is mainly behind the narration of the story, is war. The challenges that were faced by the protagonist in the story must have risen because of the war, which robbed off her leg. This also shows how much a short time war can have long term impacts on an individual if joy had not lost her leg in the war, most probably her life would be better. However, because of the war, her life and of those around her were affected (O'Connor 79). By highlighting this in the novel, O'Connor must have been advocating for peace and alternative ways through which disputes can be resolved. O'Connor was also aimed at highlighting few examples of how the civil wars affected young lives and even families. Even though the wars themselves remain history, their effects are usually felt by subsequent generations who had little or nothing to do with the war.
Conclusion
Good country people is a title that has been used to bring out the character of Joy and the challenges she encountered because of the war. The tile must have been derived from the desire of the author and the protagonist to have a peaceful nation where people are good. It seemed as if bad people who did not empathize with her situations and help her out surrounded Joy’s life. Every attempt she made to appear desirable was rewarded by misery and disappointments. If people just tried to be good, it would have greatly minims on the challenges that she faced. The paper has looked into the various characters of the novel and their impact on the life of the protagonist.
Works cited
North Carolina Wesleyan College . Good Country People: An Irregular Journal of the Cultures of Eastern North Carolina, Issue 1. North Carolina: North Carolina Wesleyan College Press, 1965.
O'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1992.
Schuster, Rita. Good Country People: A Play in Two Acts. London: San Fernando Valley State College, 1971.
