Good Country People and Green Leaf
Flannery O'Connor's story, Good Country People illustrates a favorite theme of the American writer: the difference between the stiff and empty morality advocated by the Protestant religion, and the love and indulgence preached by the Catholicism. The main character in the story, Joy Hopewell undergoes an important transformation by the end of the story that marks the shift from Protestantism to Catholicism. In the beginning, she is a thirty-two year old woman who is an atheist and a philosopher, who mocks at the simplicity of her mother and of Mrs. Freeman, the servant. She has a wooden leg because she has suffered a hunting accident as a child, and it is this handicap that embitters her and makes her believe only in ugliness. The symbolism of the story is very suggestive: first of all, the fact that the girl changes her name from Joy to Hulga hints at her relinquishing of everything beautiful and innocent. Joy gives up simplicity and love in favor of stiff morality and philosophy: "Sometimes she went for walks but she didn't like dogs or cats or birds or flowers or nature or nice young men." Thus, her discontent with the world and her scorn for everything that is not "perfect" are typical of Protestantism. As opposed to her, her
The bull is clearly the representative of the unleashed forces of nature, the thing that most comes in conflict with May's stiff view of life. Greenleaf In Greenleaf, O'Connor focuses on the contrast between the stiffness of the Protestant ethic and the indulgence and true faith of Catholicism. May, the central character has a symbolic name that alludes at the joys of spring and simple life. May's attempt to order the world is opposed to Mrs. May is obviously a racist as well, believing in the superiority of the white race and considering that her son's activity which serves the black peoples is shameful: "if you sold decent insurance, some nice girl would be willing to marry you. The images suggest her final communion with nature as with a lover: "the bull had buried his head in her lap, like a wild tormented lover". Her two antagonist sons, Wesley and Scofield, one the intellectual who hates everything and the other a businessman who makes insurance policies for Negroes, also disagree with her and see her as an "iron hand" in spite of her apparent fragility. A typical Puritan, May believes in virtue and doing things in the "right" way. Thus, she discovers symbolically the union with the world of God.
Common topics in this essay:
Greenleaf O'Connor,
Wesley Scofield,
Manley Pointer,
Joy Hulga,
Hopewell Freeman,
Protestantism Catholicism,
Country People,
O'Connor May's,
Joy Hopewell,
wooden leg,
Flannery O'Connor's,
country people,
bible seller,
mother freeman,
takes wooden,
makes believe,
takes wooden leg,
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Acceptance Essays
