No Good People // Abigale Bell

 


Something that struck me in both "Good Country People" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was the irony emphasized by the characters. In "Good Country People," the irony is in the characters' dialogue. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the irony is in the characters' circumstances. 

In "Good Country People," Mrs. Hopewell meets a Bible salesman who she deems as "salt of the earth" and "good country people" (O'Connor, 279). Later in the conversation, when the salesman tries to offer her a Bible, Mrs. Hopewell refuses. He tells her he appreciates her honesty and says, "You don't see any more real honest people unless you go way out in the country" (279). Here, there is a juxtapostion of Mrs. Hopewell who considers herself to be different from uneducated country people and someone whom she deems as such an uneducated person. The two characters are set side by side and the reader is forced to consider them in light of eachother. The author seems to make a statement here that says: people are all the same regardless of the labels we place on them. This idea is in contrast to the very words of the characters. Mrs. Hopewell says, "We all have different ways of doing, it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. That's life!" (279). Such a profound statement seems to be undercut by the contradictory nature of the story. 

In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the irony is in the fact that the grandmother insists the Misfit must be a good person. "I know you're a good man. You don't look a bit like you have common blood" (O'Connor, 15). The Misfit follows with a remark of his own stating his family is of the "finest people in the world" (15). Again, the reader is led to question the idea of what makes one person better than another. Even though the Misfit has escaped from prison and, in this moment, the characters seem to sense the danger upon them, the grandmother continues to say he must be a good man. Throughout this short story, the reader has been confronted with the question: what makes a good man? 

Comments

  1. Joshua NaqviMarch 28, 2022 at 4:52 PM

    The lack of good people seems to be attributed to the coming era. I agree that it is all too ironic. After all, the new era promises new better things. There is new technologies, ideals, and inventions yet it is the morals of humanity that suffers most. With the newness comes depravity of the old ways.

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  2. Haylee LyndMarch 28, 2022 at 9:21 PM

    The statement you make regarding people being all the same regardless of the labels we place on them could be applied to "A Good Man is Hard to Find" as well. The grandmother believes she is a lady, but it is not till the end that she is truly good. She is selfish just as the misfit is selfish.

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