In the short story, "Good Country People", Flannery O" Connor uses symbolism in names such as Mrs. Freeman, Joy/Hulga, and Manley Pointer to suggest that there is evil in everyone. The illusion is that all "country people" are good, honest people, and the reality is that everyone has some bad or evil in them. We find this out in this short story. The characters and their names mean a great deal in this short story. Mrs. Hopewell, Joy/Hulga Hopewell, and Manly Pointer all have very significant, symbolic meanings to their names.
First of all, Mrs. Hopewell's name is very symbolic of the good that there is in her. Hopewell is an interesting name because it sort of alludes to part of her disposition. She is always "hoping well" for her daughter and her neighbors. Her favorite sayings are "Nothing is perfect, that is life," and "well, other people have their opinions too"(131). This is suggesting that she is a care- free person who always looks for the best in everything. She also said that "people who looked on the bright side of things would be beautiful even if they were not"(133). Mrs. Hopewell always looked for the good in everyone. She didn't care what they looked like on the outside, as long as they had an optimistic attitude of life, they were beautiful and good. But at the very end of the story, she quotes, "Some can't be that simple, I know I never could"(143). This may be suggestion that she is not the simple, happy person that we think she is. There may also be evil in her too.
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But Hulga, a wooden legged philosopher, claims to be an atheist and the expert on nothingness. She makes it very clear that she believes in nothing several times in the story. Hulga seems like the personification of irritability. Her spiteful temperament is nothing more than a person she has created as a defense mechanism for her own wounded pride. When people talked about her attitude, she replied, "If you want me, here I am, LIKE I AM.