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Michael Doe
Dr. Rob Hale
English 110
5 October 2001
Characterization and Point of
View in “Good Country People”
“Good Country People,” by Flannery O’Connor, is a short story about
how a young man pretends to be someone he is not, in order to take advantage of
a young woman. He presents himself
as a Bible salesman to gain the girl’s trust, and he eventually takes
advantage of that trust. The girl
is also a much different person than she appears to be on the outside.
Both characters feel that they can’t be themselves because they are
afraid that they will not be accepted for who they really are.
O’Connor uses many different literary elements to develop the stories
theme. The most important
techniques that she uses are characterization and point of view.
Characterization is the means in which a writer presents and reveals a
character, while point of view refers to the angle of vision from which a story
is narrated. In this particular
story, O’Connor uses both direct and indirect characterization, as well as a
limited omniscient point of view, to show that people often hide their true
identity because of their fear of social rejection.
O’Connor uses several different types of characterization to show that
both Manley and Hulga are concealing their true identities because they are
afraid they won’t be accepted by the rest of society.
She tells the readers some of what they know through direct
characterization, which is when the writer tells the reader explicitly what kind
of person the character is. O’Connor
does not use this method very often; however, she does use it on occasion at the
beginning of the story to give the reader some general information about Hulga
and Manley. As the story unfolds,
the narrator gives the reader several physical descriptions of the characters.
These physical descriptions of both Hulga and Manley are important for
the reader to be able to make the connection between how they act and why they
might act that way. She tells us
that Hulga is “a large blonde girl” who has “an artificial leg” (181).
She also describes her as “hulking” (181).
The narrator tells the reader what Manley looks like as well.
She describes him as “a tall gaunt youth” with “prominent face
bones” and “a little pointed nose” (184, 188).
These descriptions give the reader a clue to one of the reasons why they
might be afraid they won’t fit in: their physical appearance.
Neither of the characters are particularly good looking, and as a result
they are afraid that they won’t be accepted by the rest of society.
While the author does give the
reader some information about the characters directly, much of what the reader
knows about them is gathered from events in the story, dialogue, or other
character’s reactions. This is
known as indirect characterization. O’Connor
uses this method throughout the story, and it is especially important in
developing the idea that both Hulga and Manley are not really the people they
appear to be. One particular trait
that Hulga exhibits is intelligence. While
intelligence is a very good trait to have, in Hulga’s case it only alienates
her from the rest of the world even more. From
Mrs. Hopewell, the reader learns that Hulga is “highly educated,” and that
she has “taken the Ph.D. in philosophy” (183,184).
She is so smart that it is hard for her to find people that she can
relate to. She dislikes the country
and if it wasn’t for her weak heart, “she would be in a university lecturing
to people who knew what she was talking about” (183).
It didn’t help matters much that she is living in the 1950’s and is
one of only a select group of women who had been educated beyond high school.
It is obvious that even her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, can’t relate to her.
One day Mrs. Hopewell picks up a book Hulga had been reading, and after
reading only a few lines she put it back down.
The words had “worked on her like some evil incantation of gibberish”
(184). In fact, Mrs. Hopewell often
thought “it would have been better if the child [Hulga] had not taken the
Ph.D.” (183). Hulga’s
incredible intelligence makes it very hard for her to fit in.
Even her own mother doesn’t understand her.
Hulga realizes this, and rather than struggle to be accepted, she adopts
a pessimistic view of life that assures she won’t be bothered.
She doesn’t want to have to deal with people who were below her, so she
becomes the type of person that everyone knows is there but ignores.
This way she can go on with her life in her own little world, and she
won’t have to deal with the feeling of rejection.
One particular trait that Manley exhibits is slyness. He is afraid that he won’t be accepted for who he really
is, so he pretends to be spreading the word of God so that people will think
highly of him. Manley is the type
of guy that needs to be accepted in order to feel good about himself.
He needs to fit in and feel like he is in control, and one way for him to
get that feeling is by taking advantage of women.
The only problem is that he isn’t exactly the type of guy that girls
are dying to meet. In his own
words, he is “real simple,” just a “country boy” (185).
He doesn’t have an enchanting personality or great looks, so he uses
the Bible salesman routine to convey the image of an all-around good guy.
Every girl dreams of meeting a sweet, innocent guy, much like the guy he
pretends to be. His act is so
convincing that both Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga fall for it.
After his visit, Mrs. Hopewell remarks, “he was so sincere and genuine
I couldn’t be rude to him” (187). Hulga,
despite her incredible intelligence, was even more fooled, and she agrees to see
him the next day. As they walk
through the woods, Manley’s true character starts to shine though.
When they reach the edge of the woods, Manley puts “his hand on her
back” and “drew her against him without a word and kissed her heavily”
(189). O’Connor slowly starts to
show that he isn’t the shy, innocent guy he seems to be. They reach a barn and they decide to go inside and up into
the hayloft. Manley seduces Hulga
even more by telling her that he “loves her” and he convinces her to take
off her wooden leg. She wants to
put it back on, but he tells her “to leave it off for awhile” because “you
got me instead” (192). Without
her leg, Hulga is helpless and totally dependent on him, just as he wants.
Manley grabs his bag and takes out “a pocket flask of whiskey, a pack
of cards,” and a box of condoms, and the reader realizes that Manley has been
putting on an act the whole time (192). Although
he doesn’t rape her, he steals her wooden leg and leaves her stranded all
alone. Before he goes, he tells
her, “I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born
yesterday and I know where I’m going” (192).
He knew exactly what he was doing. Manley
is much like an athlete who uses steroids.
An athlete that would do that obviously doesn’t have confidence in his
own ability, and rather than work hard to get better, he takes the easy way out
by using steroids. Manley doesn’t think he was going to attract girls being
himself, so rather than risk rejection, he pretends to be someone he is not.
Manley is very similar to Hulga, in that he is taking the easy road.
Both characters are unsure of themselves, and instead of dealing with
these uncertainties head on, they just avoid them all together by adopting a
false personality.
Throughout the story O’Connor
allows the reader to see Hulga and Manley from several different points of view,
giving the reader an opportunity to get a better idea of who they really are.
Although Hulga is the main character in the story, it is not told from
her point of view. This is very
important. Had the story been told
as Hulga has seen it, the reader would not have been able to see her from anyone
else’s perspective, and it would have totally changed the meaning of the
story. Instead the story is told by
a narrator who exhibits limited omniscience and does not actively participate in
the events of the story. This
allows her the ability to get into the minds of almost all the characters, which
is especially helpful in gaining an understanding for who Hulga and Manley
really are. At the beginning of the
story, the narrator tells us that “it seemed to Mrs. Hopewell that every year
she [Hulga] grew less like other people and more like herself – bloated, rude
and squint-eyed” (183). The
reader gets to see Hulga from her mother’s point of view throughout most of
the story. By looking at her as her
mother sees her, the reader gains a better understanding for why Hulga acts as
she does. The same is true for
Manley. By allowing the reader to
see Manley through Mrs. Hopewell’s eyes, O’Connor establishes him as a
“sincere” and “genuine” young man (186).
By the end of the story, the reader realizes that those impressions were
wrong, but without them, the meaning of the story changes.
O’Connor presents Hulga and
Manley as unique characters, but by the end of the story the reader realizes
that they are very similar. As the
story moves along, the reader sees that both characters aren’t really who they
seem to be at first glance. Both
are afraid that they won’t be accepted for who they really are, so they
pretend to be people they are not. They
think that by pretending their problems don’t exist, they won’t have to deal
with them. Through the use of characterization and point of view, O’Connor
shows that Hulga and Manley acted like they did because they were afraid that
they wouldn’t be socially accepted.
Work Cited
O’Connor, Flannery.
“Good Country People.” Literature:
Reading, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the
Essay. 4th Edition.
Ed. Robert DiYanni. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 180-193.
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