When she was ten, her leg was
“shot off in a hunting accident”
(13), which sounds like a major bummer to us. Joy legally changed her name to Hulga when she was twenty-one, but Mrs.
What physical disability does joy Hopewell have?
Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman cause her constant annoyance. Limited
by a weak heart and an artificial leg
, her life has largely been restricted to the home where she grew up. As a result, she has always kept mostly to herself and prefers reading books to spending time with others.
What does Joy’s leg symbolize?
Hulga’s leg can symbolize
her doubtful soul
, which she refuses to show to anyone by hiding the seam between her body and the prosthetic. Moreover, her mother believes that the loss of the leg cost Hulga an ability to enjoy life. Thus, the artificial leg also means that Hulga is missing joy.
How old was joy when she lost her leg in good country people?
Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter, Joy, is
thirty-two years old
and lost her leg in a childhood shooting accident.
Why does Manley take Hulgas leg?
One time I got a woman’s glass eye this way. Manley sees Hulga’s leg as a piece he can add to his collection, and he seems to have deliberately targeted her when he noticed her disability. It appears that his primary motive was
to get hold of her leg all along
.
What does Hulga need to realize about herself?
Expert Answers
Joy-Hulga has an
incredible sense of superiority over everyone around her
. She is college educated with a degree in philosophy and that alone makes her different and “better” than her mother Mrs. Hopewell or the tenant worker, Mrs. Freeman.
Do you ever look inside and see what you are not?
Do you ever look inside and see what you are not?
God
!” [..] “Malebranche was right: we are not our own light. We are not our own light!”[5]. … According to this premise, all reason, knowledge and wisdom of man comes from God, but not from his ability of thinking and reasoning.
What is the symbolism in the story good country people?
In Flannery O’Connor’s story, “Good Country People”, she uses
symbolism to illustrate the antagonist and protagonist with more insight
; for example, Manley’s hollow Bible signify how he really does not believe in Christianity, Hulga’s wooden leg portrayed her personality, and her name change represents how she is not …
What does the Bible symbolize in good country people?
Manley Pointer carries with him a Bible that has been hollowed out and filled with condoms, a flask of liquor, and playing cards with obscene images. This Bible symbolizes
Pointer himself
. On the outside, he presents as a simple, religious young man who is selling Bibles so he can go into Christian service.
What was in Manley pointers Bible?
Manley asks Hulga if she loves him. He wants her to say she loves him, and also to prove it by letting him remove her leg. After she succumbs on both counts, Manley opens his Bible to reveal its true contents:
booze, cards, and condoms
. Hulga is not impressed and insists on having her leg back.
Who is joy in good country people?
Hulga
, born Joy, is our leading lady in this short story. She changed her name herself at the age of twenty-one and—no offense to her mom who named her—we think it was a move in the right direction. Hulga is many things, but joyful is decidedly not one of them.
What time period is good country people?
This genre became popular from
the 1940s to the 1960s
, precisely when O’Connor wrote most of her fiction. Along with “Good Country People,” O’Connor’s story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is considered a central part of the genre.
Is good country people a parody?
Faced with his innocence, she complies, and she finds in her quasi-sexual yielding that “It was like losing her own life and finding it again miraculously, in his.” This parody of the
Christian paradox
makes the boy her false savior, and almost immediately the boy takes from his case of samples a Bible that contains a …
What did Manley Pointer steal from Hulga?
Hulga fantasizes about seducing him, but in the end, Manley is the one who seduces her. He leads her into a barn loft, steals
her prosthetic leg
, and abandons her.
What does Manley Pointer symbolize?
Manley Pointer’s Bible This Bible symbolizes Pointer himself. On the outside, he presents as a
simple, religious young man who
is selling Bibles so he can go into Christian service.
Why does Mrs Hopewell invite Manley pointer to dinner?
Hulga is openly discourteous to Manley Pointer, the Bible salesman when he visits her house. Mrs. Hopewell invites Manley to stay for dinner with them
after discovering that the nineteen-year-old Bible salesman has a heart condition similar to Hulga’s
.
