Flannery OConnor Good country Peoeple Free Essay Example, 1500 words

She goes on solitary walks and doesn’t like â€Å"dogs or cats or birds or flowers or nature or nice young men† (O’Connor, 18). In short, she adopts an attitude that loudly announces that she hates everyone and everything: an attitude that proclaims, ‘KEEP OFF! ’ Joy/Hulga affects to despise the ‘good country people’ she is surrounded by, only to further isolate herself from her surroundings. She contemptuously refers to Mrs. Freeman’s daughters, Glynese and Carramae, as ‘Glycerin’ and ‘Caramel, ’ and just manages to tolerate Mrs. Freeman. (O’Connor, 18). In truth, she is using this apparent scorn to shun interpersonal relationships. She uses people to divert attention away from herself: â€Å"Even Glynese and Carramae were useful when they occupied attention that might otherwise have been directed at her† (O’Connor, 15). She uses this ploy to avoid any communication about her encounter at the gate with Pointer and plies Mrs. Freeman with questions about her daughters so that she is not left in an intimate situation with her mother. She has chosen the name, ‘Hulga, ’ â€Å"purely on the basis of its’ ugly sound† (O’Connor, 16) as yet anothe r device to chase people away. We will write a custom essay sample on Flannery O'Connor Good country Peoeple or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now She is disturbed and irritated by Mrs. Freeman’s deliberate use of the name and â€Å"would scowl and redden as if her privacy had been intruded upon† (O’Connor, 16). She is afraid that Mrs. Freeman’s speculative gaze and use of the foreboding name are attempts â€Å"to penetrate far behind her face and reach some secret fact† (O’Conor, 16). Her disdain is only a pretense which hides her fear of people and is exposed as such when she pleads with Manley Pointer, â€Å"Aren’t you just good country people? † revealing that, like her mother, she too â€Å"defines good country people as people who are friendly, outgoing, simple and honest† (Sipe, Page 3, Para 1). Joy/Hulga builds particularly strong barriers between herself and her mother, as the person closest to her and the one most likely to penetrate her defenses. She employs many small tactics as her instruments of repulsion. She slams d oors, locks herself into her room, is deliberately rude, dresses sloppily and is quick to criticize her mother. She refuses to even walk over the fields with Mrs. Hopewell, resorting to ugly remarks and gloomy expressions to put her off. She uses Mrs. Freeman to avoid time alone in her mother’s company. She deliberately exaggerates the stumping of her leg, although â€Å"she could walk without making that awful noise† (O’Connor, 17), because the ugly sound irritates her mother.