Good Country People

Hulga has embraced a nihilistic strain of atheism, partly because she longs to reject the expectations of her upbringing and because she finds it genuinely empowering, as it provides her with a sense of self that feels wholly her own. The story presents Hulga’s constructed identity as an act of invention that has intense personal meaning for her, but it is not without its downsides: She now views everyone in her household and her broader community as unenlightened and base, and that manifests in the cruelty and disdain she wields against her mother. Ironically, the very belief system she has used to become what she views as the most authentic version of herself keeps her from seeing other people as they are. It’s also notable that this is a reversal from many of O’Connor’s other stories, in which people who have devout Christian beliefs are revealed to have the same problem as Hulga—an inability to comprehend the true nature of the people around them. In O’Connor’s worldview, dogmatic belief itself is the problem, as it creates a sense of superiority and moral certitude that precludes empathy and leaves one open to victimization by people who don’t value their beliefs.

To a lesser extent, the same is true of Mrs. Hopewell, though her belief in her superiority has more to do with economic class and social station as a divorced landowner than it does with her Christian beliefs. In this way, she represents the moral superiority common in the South that conflated traditional values with goodness; tellingly, she also holds ideas about the difference between “good country people” and “trash” that has as much to do with how much they are willing to be subservient to her as an employer as it does with their moral virtues. She also conflates Manley Pointer’s poverty and professed simplicity with goodness, and it’s clear she has bought into the social power structure that places her above others. Mrs. Freeman, too, has a certainty about her own opinion that the story treats with disdain and is viewed as a flaw by Mrs. Hopewell. All of these characters see themselves as right about the world and are hesitant to have their beliefs challenged in any real way.

Manley Pointer dismantles all of that, though only Hulga is aware of it at the end of the story. He has abandoned any pretense of his goodness, and as such, he sees himself as truly enlightened to the reality of the world. In his view, Hulga is worthy of victimization because of her belief that she’s better than him, and though the story presents this scene as a tragic shock that leaves Hulga humiliated, it still carries a tone of moral certainty that Hulga is being punished for her sins.