"Good Country People" Theme Paper

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Hannah Jones English 1540- Mondays 6:30pm Much of Flannery O’Connor’s writing shows how she thinks the heart is dark and complex: a battlefield of mixed emotions such as greed and religious feelings. Her writing connects with inner personal beliefs and experiences, and shows how cruel and unusual a crooked heart can be. “Good Country People” has the cataclysmic encounter of pride of intelligence versus the corruptness of any human heart in any so-called “good” people, which is the theme of O’Connor’s story. Two of the main characters, Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman, display how even the simplest of people can be corrupt. Mrs. Freeman, who is referred to and has convinced herself that she is a “good country person”, is corrupted by her obsession and fetish with the incurable sicknesses and illnesses that plague many people in that era. Mrs. Hopewell had a pride of intellect, in that she knew just how to handle Mrs. Freeman’s reaction to the incident that took her daughter’s leg. Mrs. Hopewell is described as having no bad qualities of her own, although she was able to use the bad qualities of others in such a way so that she could advance herself and her daughter. This is a very intellectual, yet dark way to live on her part. Flannery O’Connor presents such an irony of a theme that it can evolve in just one person by itself. Manley Pointer, or the so-called “Bible salesman,” presents himself in such a way that having a blackened heart and being corrupt works together to make such a twist in plot that you would not have suspected. Being a Bible salesman, one would think Mr. Pointer would be true to the heart, a solid Christian who knows the Bible and would be the typical “good country person.” He claimed that he wanted to become a missionary so that he could do good for people, which also illustrates a valiant attempt at hiding his true emotions in his

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