Joy's Character is Human: As Revealed By Her Character Flaws .
In Flannery O'Connor's short story, "Good Country People- one major theme is everyone has flaws. Joy's character exemplifies this through revealing her imperfections. While the other characters around her remain static, regardless of their shortcomings, Joy's flaws change the reader's opinion of her throughout the story. At first glance, Joy appears to be an intelligent and intellectual person, especially in comparison to her mother. As the story unfolds, one begins to see Joy's character is very compelling and has a very strong presence. In one aspect this may be because she has overcome a great physical obstacle. Another reason is that she is the only character to show human emotion all through the story. One begins to understand her, like her, and even have compassion for her. Joy's imperfections are what make her human, and not everyone is who they project themselves to be. Her inadequacies vary from external to internal including, physical ailments, immaturity and naiveté.
First and foremost, Joy is forced to overcome a great obstacle at a very young age. The loss of her leg in a hunting accident must have been very traumatic for her and her mother. Now she must use a prosthetic leg for the remainder of her life. Neither Joy nor her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, has ever seemed to get over this tragedy. This is the most obvious of Joy's weaknesses. Mrs. Hopewell claims that she herself, " had no bad qualities of her own - (185). Joy, in order to compensate for her physical disability, tries to make up for it with education. Joy states several times in the text, "I have a number of degrees- (195). Mrs. Hopewell never seems to accept Joy as who she is. Mrs. Hopewell claims to have a tolerant, nothing is perfect, that's life, attitude. This proves that deep down she is not the person she claims to be. Joy is constantly being put down.