"Good Country People": Character Hulga
Like Margaret, Hulga is intelligent to an extreme degree. My cousin also has a Ph.D., which sometimes makes her insufferable. And she has no wooden leg to excuse her! Hulga once says to her mother, "Woman! Do you ever look inside? Do you ever look inside and see what you are not? God!" Of course the poor, simple Mrs. Hopewell is utterly taken aback by this. Her indulgent behavior however does little to remedy matters, but of course there is the leg.Margaret on the other hand, has both beauty, intelligence, a reasonable promise of longevity and a very cozy job at a leading university. Her Ph.D. is not in philosophy, but in French literature. This could however also be quite a philosophical field, and she once tried to cite Racine and Voltaire at us. Like Mrs. Hopewell, Margaret's parents are also unfortunately kind to her and indulges her every intellectual whim. This is by contrast not because they pity her, but because they love to show her off.Another contrast with Hulga's situation is that Margaret's parents are themselves intellectually gifted, each with university degrees and careers. So I think they are much better able to support their child in her intellectual efforts than Mrs. Hopewell. Also, Margaret is
Specifically what happened is that they met at the University. I think her view initially was very narrow: you could either have your intellect or succumb emotionally to a man. And this is also what almost caused her to lose the most precious thing in her life; her husband-to-be. She asked several questions during the seminar, and attracted his attention. He really cared for her, so they had vicious fights about it before breaking up. They went for drinks afterwards and began dating. Furthermore, she is instrumental in Pointer's success with the theft. Margaret however saw this as an attempt to rob her of her individuality as a woman and an intellectual. Hopewell is therefore blissfully unaware that her daughter has been left stranded in the barn. For Hulga, it is almost synonymous with the symbolism of her wooden leg. Margaret is now happily married and her first baby is on the way.
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Acceptance Essays
