Good Country People

“Good Country People” first appeared in Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find in 1955 and is widely regarded as an exemplary work of Southern Gothic literature. Like many of O’Connor’s works, “Good Country People” contains a critique of the American South and religious hypocrisy rooted in O’Connor’s worldview informed by her Catholic faith. This study guide uses the 1988 Library of America edition of Flannery O’Connor’s Collected Works.

The story begins by describing the daily routine at the Hopewell house: Every morning, Mrs. Freeman, who is hired help, comes over to visit with divorcee Mrs. Hopewell while Mrs. Hopewell’s daughter, Hulga Hopewell, ignores them. (Hulga was born Joy Hopewell but legally changed her name; throughout the story, she is referred to as Joy by her mother). Hulga is 32 years old and has a PhD, but she is still treated like a child in her home, and she is described as unattractive due to her weight and the fact that she has an artificial leg. Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman gossip, and Mrs. Freeman relates information about her daughters, Glynese and Carramae, who are more attractive than Hulga, though one of them is pregnant already at 15. Mrs. Hopewell hired Mr. and Mrs. Freeman because she sees them as “good country people” (Page 264), though she and Hulga both feel that Mrs. Freeman is irritating.

Mrs. Hopewell pities her daughter, who has never had a normal life since the hunting accident where she lost her leg, and she thinks that Hulga’s decision to legally change her name from Joy was a deliberate attempt to be uglier. Mrs. Hopewell refuses to use that name, but Mrs. Freeman has begun to use it to subtly attack Hulga. Hulga prides herself in choosing the name that she thinks suits her best, but Mrs. Freeman’s attacks still bother her, in part because of Mrs. Freeman’s lurid fascination with Hulga’s leg.

Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga live in disagreement: Mrs. Hopewell thinks her daughter should not have gotten a PhD, and Hulga would not be at home if not for her weak heart. Hulga views her mother with disdain, and Mrs. Hopewell finds Hulga’s study of philosophy confusing, useless, and somewhat frightening.

One day, a Bible salesman comes to the house, and Mrs. Hopewell invites him in. He notices that she doesn’t have a Bible in the parlor, and Hopewell doesn’t tell him that it’s because of Hulga’s atheism. He persists, and Hopewell grows impatient with him, though she softens when he tells her he’s just a simple man from the country. Hulga listens from the kitchen as they exchange platitudes about how “good country people are the salt of the earth” (Page 271). He introduces himself as Manley Pointer and reveals that he doesn’t intend to go to college because he has the same heart condition as Hulga. Feeling sorry for him, Mrs. Hopewell invites him to dinner.

At dinner, Hulga is rude to Manley, and Mrs. Hopewell makes up for it by asking him questions about himself. He tells them that he is from a poor home and one of nine children, and his father is paralyzed. He also says that he wants to be a missionary. After dinner, he continues to talk, and Mrs. Hopewell grows bored of him and makes up an excuse for him to leave. On his way out, Hulga and he speak to each other as Mrs. Hopewell watches from the porch. She is stunned when Hulga begins walking with him and sees him to the gate.

The next morning, Mrs. Freemen goes on about her daughters while Mrs. Hopewell is distracted thinking about what Hulga and Manley could have talked about. Hulga comes in and makes breakfast under her mother’s watchful eye. Mrs. Hopewell mentions the Bible salesman, and Mrs. Freeman insinuates that she saw him and Hulga talking.

Hulga stomps to her room and thinks of her conversation with Manley. He was excited and nervous to speak to her. She revealed that she’s actually 17, and he mentioned her wooden leg as a reason that she’s brave. He flattered her by complimenting her name and noted how much they have in common; then, he invited her to go on a picnic. She spent the night imagining that she would seduce him in an empty barn and that, though he would be remorseful, she would “[change his remorse] into a deeper understanding of life” (Page 276).

She goes to meet him for their picnic and finds him waiting for her behind a bush, wearing a new hat and carrying his valise that held his Bibles. She questions him about it, and he responds, “You can never tell when you’ll need the word of God” (Page 277). They walk together, and she grows angry after he asks about her wooden leg. When he apologizes and says God loves her, she tells him she’s an atheist. He kisses her then; it’s her first kiss, but she looks at him with amusement and pity. When he stops, she walks on, leaving him to catch up to her as she heads to the barn. They go in, and Manley laments that she can’t go up to the loft because of her leg. She does so in defiance of him. He follows her, bringing his suitcase with him.

They begin to kiss, and he takes her glasses from her and professes his love. When she doesn’t return his words, he stops and says she must. She tells him she doesn’t use that word, and his insistence sparks pity in her. She tells him her actual age, 30, and that she has an advanced degree, but he only wants to hear her say she loves him. She relents, and he tells her to prove it by letting him see where her wooden leg is attached. This shocks her since she is very protective of her injury, but he tells her it’s what makes her different. In that moment, she thinks she is “face to face with real innocence” (Page 281).

She lets him roll her pant leg up, then shows him how it comes off. He takes it from her, which she finds alarming, and kisses her again. She pushes him off and demands he reattach the leg. In response, he opens his suitcase and takes out a hollow Bible. Inside is whiskey, obscene playing cards, and a box of condoms. He offers her whiskey, and she’s shocked by him. She again demands to have her leg back, and he pushes her away, then mocks her for trusting him even though she claims to believe in nothing.

Manley takes her leg and puts it in the suitcase with his other belongings. Then he descends the ladder, stopping to tell Hulga that he habitually takes things from women, including a glass eye. Then he mocks her for thinking she’s better than him, saying, “I’ve been believing in nothing ever since I was born!” (Page 283). He leaves Hulga there stranded, and as he walks by Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell, they comment on how simple he is.