Watermarks Examining the Good in "Good Country People" by Wendy Tyson

O'Connor's "Good Country People" is a story told through the examination of the relationships between the four main characters. All of the characters have distinct feelings about the others, from misunderstanding to contempt. Both Joy-Hulga, the protagonist, and Manley Pointer, the antagonist, are multi-faceted characters. While all of the characters have different levels of complexity, Joy-Hulga and Manley Pointer are the deepest and the ones with the most obvious facades.

The first character we encounter is Mrs. Freeman. She is the wife of Mrs. Hopewell's tenant farmer. She is a very outspoken woman, and "she [can] never be brought to admit herself wrong on any point" (O'Connor 180). Mrs. Freeman is a gossip; she is nosy and she "ha[s] a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children" (O'Connor 183).

Mrs. Freeman wants to be an authority on everyone else's personal business. She is never shy of sharing the details of her daughters' lives with Mrs. Hopewell. I get the impression that she tells anyone that she meets the intimate details of the lives of Glynese, Carramae, Mrs. Hopewell, and Joy-Hulga. Being a poor tenant farmer's wife, her only weapon is her speech (Enjoiras 36). In order to compete with Mrs. Hopewell, she must be constantly on the look-out for ways to subtly one-up her in the course of their conversations. Asals describes their conversations as "hackneyed one-upmanship" (99). For example, the way they speak to each other one rnorning goes like this:

This is typical dialogue for them, riddled with clichés and trite expressions. Mrs. Freeman knows she cannot compete with Mrs. Hopewell monetarily, but she always gets the last word in their conversations.

Mrs. Freeman is a very domineering woman. In comparison to her husband, she is "the wheel behind the wheel" (O'Connor 181). Enjolras classifies Mrs. Freeman as "self- righteous" (36). Because she is not the landowner, she knows she must be careful in her contempt for Mrs. Hopewell's possessions. Although she is not as materially wealthy as Mrs. Hopewell, she takes great pride in her daughters. Mrs. Freeman revels in the fact that Glynese and Carramae have admirers, while Joy-Hulga, though twice their ages, has never had a relationship with a boy.

When Mrs. Hopewell is not in earshot, Mrs. Freeman addresses Joy as Hulga. Mrs. Freeman is intrigued by Joy-Hulga's wooden leg. It is one of the deformities with which she is so fascinated. Mitchell writes that "Mrs. Freeman is fascinated by the leg, but it is a 'secret infection,' spiritual and psychological in nature, of which the leg provides intimations" (2). 1 think Mrs. Freeman calls Joy by the name she chose because she derives secret pleasure in irritating her.

Asals brings forth the idea that Mrs. Freeman is a "symbolic mother to Manley Pointer. Both are given the last words in the scenes in which they last appear in the story. Since Joy-Hulga has turned out to be as naive as Mrs. Hopewell, Manley is shown to be as evil as Mrs. Freeman can presumably become (Asals 102).

Next we are introduced to Mrs. Hopewell. She is a divorcee and has hired the Freemans because she needs assistance in working and managing her farm. As her name suggests, Mrs. Hopewell is an eternal optimist. She is always encouraging her daughter to "[look] on the bright side of things" (O'Connor 183). She comes across to me as truly a Southern woman, hospitable to her very core. This is exemplified when she invites Manley Pointer, a stranger, in to dinner.

Mrs. Hopewell's speech is trite and stale. She has a well-stocked supply of clichés that she doesn't hesitate to use, especially when speaking to her daughter. She often tells her things like "a smile never hurt anyone" (O'Connor 183). 1 think Mrs. Hopewell is a shallow woman who still sees her daughter as a child even though she is 32 years old.

Mrs. Hopewell's relationship with Joy-Hulga is strained at best. Her superficial mind is incapable of understanding her daughter's deep, complex ways of thinking. However, she does not make any efforts to get to know her better. Once, she read a quote from one of Joy-Hulga's philosophy books, but it seemed to her "[an] evil incantation in gibberish" (O'Connor 184). Mrs. Hopewell disapproves of Joy-Hulga's atheism and her philosophical mind. Over the years, she has noticed that "every year [Joy] grew less like other people and more like herself- bloated, rude, and squint-eyed" (O'Connor 183). 1 think she wishes that Joy-Hulga would be more like Glynese and Carramae.

Enjolras puts Mrs. Hopewell into the "self-righteous" category like Mrs. Freeman (32). He places her there because she is a landowner, and she sees everyone beneath her as inferior. I think this is a true statement. Mrs. Hopewell puts up with Mrs. Freeman only because she needs the help; she has no deep affinity for her. She knows that "nothing is perfect," so she keeps the Freemans around for her benefit (O'Connor 182). Mrs. Hopewell works diligently to run her farm and maintain her social position and material possessions.

O'Connor writes that "Mrs. Hopewell had no bad qualities of her own but she was able to use other people's in such a constructive way that she never felt the lack" (181). This exemplifies Mrs. Hopewell's position as landlord and as mother. Both Mrs. Freeman and Joy-Hulga have more than their share of faults, so she doesn't notice hers. Her biggest flaw is that she is too nice. Her hospitality eventually leads to her daughter's predicament.

Mrs. Hopewell definitely feels superior to Manley Pointer. He may be "the salt of the earth," but she obviously thinks she's better than he is (O'Connor 185). Her condescension is also apparent at the end of the story when she expresses that "the world would be better off if we were all that simple" (O'Connor 193).

Thirdly, we meet Joy-Hulga Hopewell, the protagonist of the story. She is 32 years old and has a doctorate in philosophy and a wooden leg. This leg is an important part of her identity. The inner Joy-Hulga is self-conscious and unhappy. The Joy-Hulga she pretends to be on the surface is rude and self-assured in her beliefs, which are the beliefs in nothing. Joy-Hulga is an atheist. By giving her a wooden leg, O'Connor gives her a physical deformity, as well as a mental one.

Joy-Hulga dislikes her mother. She sees her as the superficial woman that she is. When Joy reached the age of 21, she had her name legally changed to Hulga. Asals writes that it is "a deliberate defiance of her mother, a self-definition that sets her against everything Mrs. Hopewell stands for" (99). I agree with his idea. I think she made the change to forever erase the part of her that her mother created. Her new name, Hulga, is important to her identity as well. Spelled H-E-L-G-A in Norway, the name means the holy one (Holsen 59). This is ironic because Joy-Hulga has freely admitted that she is an atheist. Ms. Holsen writes that she has chosen this name because "she is seeking, unconsciously, a moral and spiritual perfection that is holy in nature" (59). 1 disagree with her. I think Joy-Hulga chose the name Hulga as a bitter joke. She does not believe in God, so to choose a name meaning the holy one is a final insult to God and all Christians. Joy-Hulga "[sees] it as the name of her highest creative act" (O'Connor 183).

As important as her name is to her, Joy-Hulga's sense of identity really rests in her wooden leg. According to Enjolras, most of O'Connor's characters are in some way hideous-looking or physically deformed. They all depend on some sort of prosthesis to survive day-to-day living. Although the prostheses are supposed to make life easier and the disabilities less noticeable, their effects are often to draw attention to them. He writes that "they become the only major concrete means by which they can define themselves, shaping their identity, becoming their essence, and finally dominating their lives" (8). This is very true in the case of Joy-Hulga Hopewell. Her wooden leg is the focal point of her entire existence. Its presence has made her who she is; she has allowed it to take control of her life.

Joy-Hulga is extremely naive when it comes to dealing with men. I think O'Connor added the characters of Glynese and Carramae to the story to show her audience how inexperienced Joy-Hulga is. Neither of the Freeman girls is lacking in sexual experience, an area with which Joy-Hulga is entirely unfamiliar. Glynese and Carramae are both more concerned with trivial matters than with the philosophical thinking that Joy-Hulga spends her days reflecting on (Whitt 77). Glynese and Carramae are important to the story only because they show us how different Joy-Hulga really is.

Joy-Hulga's first meeting with Manley Pointer is uneventful to say the least. She ignores him throughout the entire meal that he finagled an invitation to. She sees him as simple, dim- witted, and stupid. When he asks her to a picnic, Joy-Hulga agrees to go because she wants to "[give him] a deeper understanding of life" (O'Connor 189). She wants to show a simple country boy what the world is really like. Little does she know, he will be the one teaching the life lesson (Enjolras 46).

Joy-Hulga allows herself to trust Manley Pointer because he is the first man ever to show an interest in her. Because she sees him as simple, it never enters her mind that he might have ulterior motives for asking her on a date. This is another display of Joy-Hulga's arrogance and her naiveté. Because she trusts him, she does something with him that she has never considered letting anyone else do: she lets him remove her wooden stump. This "was like surrendering to him completely" (O'Connor 191). For Joy-Hulga, the removal of her leg is tantamount to a loss of virginity.

Once Manley is in possession of her leg, he reveals his true self. Joy-Hulga is astounded at the change: "Aren't you just good country people?" she cries. "You're a fine Christian!" (O'Connor 192). Joy-Hulga has found herself in a situation where no amount of college education could help her. Her worldly experiences are severely lacking. Much to her dismay, she realizes that she's as naive as she perceives her mother to be (Asals 102). Manley's violation of her most sacred part has transformed her mind. She will never think the same way again (Whitt 78).

Enjolras calls Joy-Hulga "the perfect stereotype of an intellectual" (44). She is highly educated and sees herself as above everyone else. She thinks she has a better understanding of the world than anyone else. Joy-Hulga is very sure of her belief in nothing. Her intellectualism is a contributing factor to her predicament (Enjolras 46).

Manley Pointer arrives at Mrs. Hopewell's farm ostensibly to sell her a Bible. He comes across as "just a [simple] country boy" (O'Connor 185). This is Manley's facade. In reality, he's a con artist with a fetish for prosthetic body parts. The phallic undertones present in his name are foreshadowing to his violation of Joy-Hulga (Whitt 78). His entire existence is a fraud because he admits to Joy-Hulga that Manley Pointer isn't even his real name. Joy-Hulga and Manley have distorted themselves. Both are shown to be fake after the Bible is distorted during the failed love scene--which is also a distortion (Feeley 178).

Manley's relationship with Joy-Hulga is almost nonexistent at first. As mentioned earlier, she ignores him over the lunch that her mother invited him to. They speak for the first time as he is on his way to leave. He convinces her to go on a picnic with him the following day. I think he has all ready formulated a plan of action for taking advantage of Joy-Hulga.

Manley's theft of Joy-Hulga's wooden leg is a triumph for him. He has something new to add to his collection of trophies from past conquests. I don't think he realizes how deeply he has shaken Joy-Hulga's beliefs. His declaration of "I been believing in nothing ever since was born!" shocks her to the innermost core (O'Connor 193). She has finally come to the realization that she's not as smart and superior as she thought she was.

Asals writes that "Manley Pointer (is] as hollow as the Bible he reveals in the barn" (101). The self he has created is revealed as false; "it is the girl, not the Bible salesman, who has the innocence of a child" (Asals 101). He has preyed on her innocence and has benefited from it. He gained a wooden leg and the satisfaction of humiliating a naive woman and shattering her ego.

The depth of O'Connor's characters is shown to us through her skillful writing. In Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell she has given her readers a look at some stereotypes of Southern country people. Mrs. Freeman is the nosy and contemptuous hired help, and Mrs. Hopewell is the dignified Southern lady. Their relationship is as important to the story as the one between Joy-Hulga and Manley Pointer. Both Joy-Hulga and Manley are complex characters, and what is revealed about them at the end of the story proves it. The facades they put on are as essential to "Good Country People" as the mindless conversations between Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell. The relationships between these four characters are what make "Good Country People" such a literary success.

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