Good Country People :: Literary Analysis, Oconnor

In Flannery O’Connor’s stories, â€Å"Good Country People†, â€Å"Everything that Rises Must Converge†, †A Good Man is Hard to Find†, and â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own†, there are many similar characters and situations. Few, if any of the characters are likeable, and most of them are grotesque. Two of the stories have characters that view themselves as superior in one way or another to those around them, and in some cases these characters experience a downfall, illustrating the old proverb, â€Å"Pride goeth before a fall† (King James Bible ,Proverbs 16:18). Two of the stories include a character that has some type of disability, three of the stories showcase a very turbulent relationship between a parent and child, and three of the stories contain a character that could easily be described as evil. In â€Å"Good Country People† there are two characters who believe that they are superior to others. Mrs. Hopewell describes herself as having â€Å"no bad qualities of her own† (DiYanni pg.189). She also takes it upon herself to categorize the people she meets as either, â€Å"good country people† or â€Å"trash,† (pg.188, 189).There do not seem to be any shades of grey in her thinking. Joy/Hulga Hopewell also sees herself as superior, but her superiority lies in her intellect. She makes it known that were it not for her ill health she would be at a university teaching people who â€Å"knew what she was talking about† (pg. 191). Although Joy/Hulga believes herself to be intellectually superior she is fooled by the Bible salesman to such an extent that he is able to steal her wooden leg (pg. 200). â€Å"Everything that Rises Must Converge† also contains two supposedly superior characters, Julian and his mother. Julian’s mother believes that she is superior because her grandfather was a former governor, a prosperous landowner with two-hundred slaves. She also believes that being white makes her superior to people of other races. She believes that those people should rise, but â€Å"on their own side of the fence† (pg. 214). Later in the story she offends a â€Å"Negro† woman by her patronizing treatment of the woman’s child. This woman is so upset that she physically attacks Julian’s mother (pg. 221). Julian also sees himself as superior. He feels superior to his mother because he does not see himself as racist. In reality he is as much a racist as his mother, but he shows his racism in a different way, seeking out those who he terms â€Å"some of the better types† to befriend (pg.