Good Country People Character Analysis

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good Country People” the protagonist, Joy, had mutual characteristics with each of the characters. Her and Mrs. Hopewell were both naïve to Manely Pointer’s true personality. Joy and Mrs. Freeman were both very serious people. Last her and Manely Pointer are both illusive, but for different reasons. Each charcter’s life was told in the third person point of view, which leads to the mystery behind the story.
Joy, or Hulga’s, point of view is third person limited, the reader can see what Joy is thinking and feeling, but only at certain points in the story. Joy is a round character and changes from the beginning of the story to the end, at first she is a smart girl who did not trust many people, and by the end she was seducing Manely and wound up getting tricked into doing something she usually never does. She is an intelligent and innocent girl who has “never been kissed before”(448). Joy did not get along with people that well, and was easily annoyed by the people around her; The only reason she liked Mrs. Freeman’s
Hopewell’s point of view is third person limited, some of her thoughts are shown, but it is also told from other’s perspectives. Mrs. Hopewell is a flat character, from the beginning to the end she does not understand that people are not always who they seem to be. She is a woman who believes that there are not enough “Good Country People,” anymore. She judges people quickly, then doesn’t give them a second thought, however, “nothing is perfect, and this is one of Mrs. Hopewell’s favorite sayings”(439). Mrs. Hopewell believes that Joy does things just to annoy her and she does not seem to be too proud of her daughter at all time; She is sad for Joy, because “she had never danced a step or had any normal good times”(440). Mrs. Hopewell is naïve to the fact that people are not always who they seem to be, so when the sweet Manely Pointer came to sell bibles, she quickly assumed he was of “good country