How Location Affects The Story And Its Characters In Good Country People.

Eunice Mendoza


How location affects the story and its characters in Good Country People.
I think that in the story of “Good Country People” by Flannery O´Connor there is a direct relation between the location of the story and the story itself and its characters.
First of all we all have that stereotype of country people being very narrowminded and stubborn. Country people usually are very religious, simple and conservative, contrary to people who live in the city that are always perceive as non-religious, complicated and modern. It is not possible to say if these stereotypes have a real foundation but the truth is that they exist in our society.
In the story we have the example of Mrs. Freeman who is the perfect exampleof the stereotype of a country person; “She seldom used the other expression because it was not often necessary for her to retract a statement…” (181) here we can see that this woman is very stubborn and does not admit or believe that she could ever be wrong. Another example is “Mrs. Freeman could never be brought to admit herself wrong to any point…” (181).
Then we have Mrs. Freemandaughters. These girls are young and pretty, but that´s it. In the story it is never mentioned something outstanding about them. They do not study, do not work, do not show any sign of wanting to do anything apart of what they are supposed to do. And this is to get married and have children. “Glynese, a redhead, was eighteen and had many admirers; Carramae, a blonde, was only fifteen but alreadymarried and pregnant.” (181). These girls in the country side are “normal” so nobody says nothing wrong about them, on the contrary Mrs. Hopewell is always talking about how good they are; “Mrs. Hopewell liked to tell people that Glynese and Carramae were two of the finest girls she knew…” (181) this happens because they fit in the standards of their environment. The opinion that the people have ofthem in another setting will be different.

Mrs. Hopewell is another example of how the people acts and thinks according to the place where they live. She is a woman who prefers the “good country people” above everyone. “Good country people are the salt of the earth!” (186).This thought is so strong that she even believes that the world will be different if all the people were likethat. “Why, I think there aren’t enough good country people in the world!” (186).
Mrs. Hopewell is the product of the country life, is the result of living her whole life in one place, ignoring that there are other ways of thinking and living. She does not appreciate or respect nothing outside what she knows. And I think that this is what causes the problems with her daughter. I thinkthat she loves her but she does not understand her. This is clear in here “The girl had taken the Ph.D. in philosophy and this left Mrs. Hopewell at a complete loss. You could say, “My daughter is a nurse,” or “My daughter is a school teacher,” or even, “My daughter is a chemical engineer.” You could not say, “My daughter is a philosopher.” (184) this is a clear example of how Mrs. Hopewell fellsabout her daughter. She seems more proud of Mrs. Freeman daughters for being pretty that for his daughter for being smart.
Then we have Joy. I think that all her bitterness and unhappiness, lies in the fact that she is not in the place where she should be. Again the location is affecting directly her life. The problem with her is that she does not fit in the country standards. Whatpeople around her expect from her is to be pretty, kind, and “normal”. Those are the characteristics that people expect from country women. But she is not. Joy is not that young anymore, she is not kind; on the opposite she is rude. But I consider that she is not rude just for the sake of it, she is rude because she is disgust of everything around her; “Joy had made it plain that if it had not been...