Good Country People By Flannery O Connor Character Analysis

Southern Gothic Literature is often distinguished from other genres of literature through author’s fixation on the grotesque, as well as their development of damaged, or even delusional characters. Among demonstrating these recurrent themes in “Good Country People”, Flannery O'connor focuses on the stark contrast between each character’s self proclaimed identities versus their true nature. From a judgmental character like Mrs. Hopewell uttering “Everybody is Different” (O’connor 3), to Manley Pointer pulling pornographic playing cards from his Bible, O’connor has packed her story from start to finish with irony, making the characters more memorable and the climax more shocking. But why go the lengths that O’connor, along with most other Southern Gothic Authors, has to create such intensively ironic situations? Because as unappealing as it sounds, hypocrisy is one of the most relatable human traits. When readers enter Hulga’s house, chock-full of social expectations and “self-satisfied Christian-sounding cliches” (Nielson), they immediately feel her contempt for society and begin to understand her defiant behavior. Reversely, when Mrs. Hopewell lies to Manley about there being a Bible on her nightstand,
Reading about Joy trying so desperately to avoid becoming her mother only to end up replicating her mother’s actions creates an intense frustration for the reader. Meanwhile reading Mrs. Hopewell describe the simplicity of good country people time and time again while remaining the simplest of characters creates a comedic irony. Both strategies are effective in their own regards, and O’connor’s, and many other Southern Gothic Author’s, inventive use of irony may be the quality of Southern Gothic Literature that has been luring readers of all statures to this genre for