Good Country People Pride Research Paper
Prajwal Kadoor
Dr. Weeks
English 1102
12 October 2011
“Good Old Country People” –Pride is Stronger Than Most Think
Pride throughout literature has been heavily manipulated by authors in positive and negative lights to reflect their intended purpose. In the majority of Flannery O’Conner‘s stories, characters who have pride exude more arrogance than they do confidence, and as a result these characters condescend towards those of lower standards. In “Good Country People,” O’Conner attacks pride to be a negative influence on society in which the central character Hulga has so much pride that she condescends towards others. Here, Hulga condescends towards her mother, Mrs. Freeman, and the bible salesman by treating them as imbeciles and is eventually punished for it by losing her leg. O’Conner defines Hulga’s pride but lets the reader determine and attack how negative it is and therefore how appropriate her punishment is for her actions. …show more content…
“Joy had made it plain that if it had not been this condition, she would be far from these red hills and good country people. She would be in a university lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about” (175). Hulga clearly indicates in this statement that she would rather not have to deal with naïve country people, and would rather talk to those which are as smart as she is. O’Conner just describes Hulga’s feelings about the country but leaves it up to the readers to decide whether such feelings are the right ones to have. The natural reaction of the reader that O’Conner would be trying to induce is one that rejects the feelings. Ideally the reader would see that Hulga is not treating the country people as equals to university students and therefore see that Hulga is condescending in a way that makes her feel superior while exuding negative
Dr. Weeks
English 1102
12 October 2011
“Good Old Country People” –Pride is Stronger Than Most Think
Pride throughout literature has been heavily manipulated by authors in positive and negative lights to reflect their intended purpose. In the majority of Flannery O’Conner‘s stories, characters who have pride exude more arrogance than they do confidence, and as a result these characters condescend towards those of lower standards. In “Good Country People,” O’Conner attacks pride to be a negative influence on society in which the central character Hulga has so much pride that she condescends towards others. Here, Hulga condescends towards her mother, Mrs. Freeman, and the bible salesman by treating them as imbeciles and is eventually punished for it by losing her leg. O’Conner defines Hulga’s pride but lets the reader determine and attack how negative it is and therefore how appropriate her punishment is for her actions. …show more content…
“Joy had made it plain that if it had not been this condition, she would be far from these red hills and good country people. She would be in a university lecturing to people who knew what she was talking about” (175). Hulga clearly indicates in this statement that she would rather not have to deal with naïve country people, and would rather talk to those which are as smart as she is. O’Conner just describes Hulga’s feelings about the country but leaves it up to the readers to decide whether such feelings are the right ones to have. The natural reaction of the reader that O’Conner would be trying to induce is one that rejects the feelings. Ideally the reader would see that Hulga is not treating the country people as equals to university students and therefore see that Hulga is condescending in a way that makes her feel superior while exuding negative