Irony in Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”

林朝伊

In Flannery OConnors short story “Good Country People”， a young Bible seller named Pointer drops by the house of a divorced farm owner， Mrs. Hopewell， and tries to sell his Bible to her. He gradually gains the trust from Mrs. Hopewell as well as the affection from Mrs. Hopewells daughter， Hulga—a 32-year-old virgin with a PhD in philosophy and a wooden leg. Though he is considered to be a fine Christian and a “good country people” by everyone around him， Pointer eventually seduces Hulga in a barn and takes her wooden leg away. As we look deeply into the story， we can see OConnor usesirony as a main literary device in the story， and by using it， she attempts to criticize the people who use religion as a cover to do sinful deeds.

According to Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary， irony is “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning”. As a literary device， irony is “a contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and what is reality”. In this story， the irony is realized by the characterization of the main character Manley Pointer—people consider Pointer to be a simple and innocent “good country people”， but he turns out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The first irony lies in the contrast between the “simple， nice young man” that Pointer claims himself to be， and his true colors of a cunning， sophisticated Bible salesman.In order to make others buy his Bible， Pointer appears to be extremely enthusiastic and sincere， wearing a cheerful smile all the time， saying Mrs. Hopewells name “in a way that sounded almost intimate” the first time he sees her （OConnor 7）. Whats more， he really has his way of pushing people to buy his Bible step by step—putting on an earnest look at first in order to get into Mrs. Hopewells house， glancing around the room in order to size her up and to find a void in the room for his Bible， and sparing no effort to claim himself as a good country boy when he knows Mrs. Hopewells soft spot for “good country people”. His methodical and approaches make it harder and harder for Mrs. Hopewell to turn down his offer.

Pointer also tries all kinds of means to evoke other peoples sympathy in order to sell his Bible. Not only does he lecture about his fathers tragic accident and his miserable life， he also tells Mrs. Hopewell about his “heart condition”， saying that he may not live long， and claiming that he will devote the rest of his life to Christian service. As a result， he successfully melts Mrs. Hopewells heart and gets a free dinner. Apart from arousing Mrs. Hopewells sympathy， he also moves her deeply， making her believe that he is “so sincere and genuine”， and that he is a “good country people” and “the salt of the earth”.

The irony is also presented when Pointer claims himself to be a good country boy and devout Christian， yet he is in fact a perverse seducer whose behaviors are inconsistent with Christian teachings. We learn this as we look into the sexual relationship between Pointer and Hulga： the inferior and innocent young boy in Hulgas eyes turns out to be an evil， who seduces her and takes away her wooden leg. In order to win Hulgas heart and seduce her， Pointer appears to be extremely affectionate for her—he casts a “keen appraising glance” at Hulga when he first sees her， gazing at her with “open curiosity”， “fascination”， and “admiration”， like “a child watching a new fantastic animal at the zoo” （OConnor 11）. He fervently urges Hulga to go for a picnic with him and kisses her heavily and passionately， saying that he loves her again and again. Under his affection and passion， Hulga， who once thinks of him as an inferior boy and a “poor baby”， finally returns his kisses and becomes totally seduced by him.

Apart from faking a feverish affection for Hulga， Pointer also uses all kinds of sweet words to coax her. The first time he greets Hulga， he fervently tells her that he likes her the minute he sees her walk in the door. He praises her as “brave” and “sweet” because of her wooden leg， and in this way， he artfully turns her defect into something unique and special. When he found that Hulga is a well-educated girl， he immediately glorifies himself as one who “thinks a lot” and has “serious thoughts”， and declares that “some people was meant to meet on account of what all they got in common”， so as to strike a chord with her and push himself closer to her （OConnor 12）. Whats more， he casts his most powerful blandishment when he is persuading Hulga to take off her wooden leg in the barn： “‘Because， he said， ‘its what makes you different. You aint like anybody else…‘Leave it off for a while. You got me instead” （OConnor 16）. It is at this moment that Hulga decides that “for the first time in her life she was face to face with real innocence”， and surrenders to him completely， thus becoming totally controlled and seduced by him （OConnor 16）. She thinks that the boy has touched the truth about her and becomes completely dependent to him， but in fact Pointers intention is just to get her wooden leg as his possession， so as to content his abnormal obsession for prosthesis.

Pointer also tries all kinds of means to disguise himself as a devout Christian in order to attain his unethical goals. He appears to be devoted to Christian， carrying his Bible wherever he goes， and pretending to be extremely shock when Hulga tells him she does not believe in God. He also shows his devotion by constantly mentioning Gods name—he declares that “the word of God ought to be in every room in the house besides in his heart”， and says that “I guess God takes care of you” when he is praising Hulga （OConnor 13）. However， he is the one who does not believe in God at all—by the end of the story， he calls Christian as “crap”， claiming that， “I been believing nothing ever since I was born” （OConnor 18）. Even his Bible is hollow， containing whisky， obscene cards， and condoms. His devotion to God is just a cover for him to collect the glass eyes and wooden legs from disabled women. He is in fact a liar who does sinful things under the cover of Christian.

In conclusion， the technique irony is applied in the characterization of Manley Pointer， and is realized by three sharp contrasts： the contrast between his “simple， innocent boy” image and his actual character of a cunning Bible seller， the contrast between his “good country people”faade and his evil， perverse nature， and the contrast between his “devout Christian” figure and his true colors of a godless liar. By using irony， OConnor criticizes the people who use religion to disguise the sinful things they did， as well as the hypocrisy and self pretention that breed inside peoples heart.

[Works Cited]

[1]Forsyth， Mark. Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary.Collins， 2014.

[2]O'Connor， Flannery. Flannery OConnor： The Complete Stories.“Good Country People” New York： Farrar， Strauss and Giroux， 1971. Print.

（作者單位：Hangzhou Normal University， Hangzhou Zhejiang 311121）