Anyone know what is a Political Cartoonist? The literal definition of the job is to draw larger a flaw in a politician’s character or the stupidity of an event. It is the job of a cartoonist to bring attention to flaws in people and possibly push for changes. Flannery Connor aspired to be a cartoonist. In Good Country People, she reveals the flaws of each character by naming them. By reading the short story, you’ll see how transparent she is. Her theme is the character’s ongoing persona and how they develop in relation to reality.
Good Country People contains a lot of hypocrisy. In the case of Mrs. Hopewell for example, she’s so naive. She sees people at their best. “Good people from the country are the best! We are all unique, so it is important that we have a diversity of ways to do things. That’s life!”. This is not the first time that Mrs. Hopewell has claimed that all people are good. In reality, however, she simply turns her head away from humanity and refuses see the evil that exists. Joy is a character who also displays hypocrisy. She declares herself an atheist, but has never stepped outside her bubble. She spends her time reading books on science that explain what Christians believe. She believes she knows it all because she’s surrounded by “good country folk” who have a strong faith. Mrs. Freeman, another important character. Her name, which means “freeman”, is a clear indication that she is the opposite of Mrs. Hopewell. She knows the truth about the world, and she’s not blind to human evils. But, ironically, her life is dominated by other people and their drama. Manly, a Bible salesman. He appears innocent, but is actually evil. Irony is used to convey a deeper message than deceiving. This is a universal truth. He reveals that there are Christians in the world who do not follow the Christian lifestyle. The characters all have something in common. Not only because they’re in the book, but also because each character represents something deeper. It relates to flaws present in today’s world. This story about a few good country folks with flaws has a timeless quality. In no way am I comparing the story to the Bible, or implying O’Connor as God. She did, however, touch on a subject that will never go away: human flaws.
All of the characters in my paragraph are related. It’s all about hope, deception, flaws, realization and flaws. It begins with the oblivious Mrs. Hopewell. Mrs. Freeman doesn’t seem to care about herself and is too busy worrying about everyone else. Joy decides to change her name because she doesn’t like it and she wants to cut off from society. However, she cannot completely isolate herself because people want attention. Manly pointer is a bible seller who takes advantage of Joy (Hulga) by giving her the attention she craves. Ironically, he had taken the one thing Hulga held dear in her life. “She felt the same way about her artificial leg as she does about a dog’s tail,” and this brings us back to the faith of Mrs. Hopewell. Irony: Each character is claiming to be different, but they are all learning from each other. The same as we do in real life. Every day, we all learn from one another. Everybody has flaws and is sometimes something they claim not to be. This false sense of Christianity can make us naive, intrude on someone else’s affairs, or even atheists.
Flannery o’Connor had an interesting way of pointing out all the flaws, good and bad, in her story. The story was the same, no matter who the protagonist was, the atheists or the woman with a positive outlook on everyone. This story is a good example of how readers are left not knowing what to think about the characters, particularly with the ending. The theme of the story is important. It’s also important to know the theme.