A common theme Flannery O'Connor uses in her writing is the theology of orthodox Christianity. The central themes from her stories focus around different characters that all interact through the single topic of God. Some characters oppose Him. Others draw close to Him. Regardless, every character acknowledges and is somehow related to God in some fashion.

        The religious fixation in O'Connor's work should not be surprising, since she "was by birth and by faith a Roman Catholic who lived much of her life in the heart of the Southern Protestant Fundamentalists Bible Belt" (Mary 254). Despite setting most of her stories in the south, they are not southern stories. The central stories in her work are "grounded in the theology of orthodox Christianity, and [their] major concerns are spiritual and religious" (254). O'Connor is not out to create recreations of the Bethlehem story or giving a verbatim retelling of the crucifix, but actually "[is] disturbed by what she [sees] as the contemporary Christian's loss of spiritual consciousness" (254). So to combat this lack of spirituality that she grew up learning, she "uses scenes and characters from her native environment to comment on the issue of modern spirituality" (254). To her credit, many critics who might not even share her religious beliefs commend O'Connor's unique and compelling vision. In a twist of irony, her harshest critics actually come from members of the Catholic Church.

        The story at focus is "Good Country People." In it, O'Connor uses a cast consisting of a door-to-door Bible salesman, a one-legged atheist, and an overprotective mother looking out for her grown daughter. The use of Christian writing is evident simply in the choice of characters and their religious outlooks. But quite simply, the pretense to each character, when cast away, shows the inner workings of them that shows that no one can be perceived at face value. Truly, someone has to learn and interact with someone before they can find the inner person, where only then will they know how they are. It is in this story that "[t]he current of irony runs deepÖ but rarely does it run as deep as [O'Connor's] compassion" (McCown 256).

        In "Good Country People," Manley Pointer represents the ideal outwardly Christian. He has "been selling Bibles for four months" (O'Connor 1083) and wants "to become a missionary because he [thinks] that [is] the way you [can] do most for people" (1083). Growing up, his mother "had always seen that [Manley Pointer] went to Sunday School and that [he] read the Bible every evening" (1082). His upbringing shows in the way that he speaks with Mrs. Hopewell. He tells her that "he (has never) met a lady as nice as her" (1083). This courteous and nice manner exemplifies the manners that a Christian has upon meeting someone that they instantly respect.

        Mrs. Hopewell has a daughter named Joy. She continues to call her by that, even though "as soon as she was twenty-one and away from home, [Joy] had it legally changed" (1078). Her new name is Hulga. Refusing to call her by that name, "Mrs. Hopewell is certain that [Joy] had thought and thought until sheÖ hit upon the ugliest name in any language" (1078). But contrary to what Mrs. Hopewell perceives to be an ugly word, "Hulga" actually is the complete opposite. The name comes from the word "'Helga,' which is the correct way to spell it in Norwegian" (Holsen 59). This word "has a male form, Helge" (59) and then there is "Helga, which is rarely used in Norway today" (59). Both of these names "derive from the Norse word 'heilagr,' in modern Norwegian 'hellig,' meaning 'holy'" (59). So despite Mrs. Hopewell's idea that her daughter has labeled herself with a disgraceful term, "Hulga has saved herself by seeing through to nothingness" (59). A true meaning with more personal redemption is the underlying motive to Joy's name change to Hulga, as which she will be referred to from here on out.

        Mrs. Hopewell is Hulga's mother. When she "[thinks] the name, Hulga, she [thinks] of the broad blank hull of a battleship" (O'Connor 1078). She has a hard time picturing her daughter as anything more than a little girl, despite the fact that Hulga is thirty-two years old with a college education. The hunting accident that took Hulga's leg when she was ten is a memory that Mrs. Hopewell tries not to focus on, or else she will "realize that her child [is] thirty-two now and that for more than twenty years she [has] had only one leg" (1078). So Mrs. Hopewell tries to see her daughter through a shade of sorts, always blaming the leg whenever Hulga stomps around loudly or does nothing during the day except read.

        Atheism is a topic that O'Connor discusses through Hulga, who is an atheist. When Pointer mentions God taking care of Hulga, she responds that "'[she] don't even believe in God'" (1086). This usage of a character that does not acknowledge God in the sense that O'Connor herself does serves to paint a picture of both sides of the coin. It is a vent for O'Connor to portray the typical responses that atheists can and do use in response to the Christian doctrine. When Hulga's leg is stolen by Pointer, she comments that "[he is] just like them all- say one thing and do another" (1090). That is a typical and often used line that is said towards Christians when they slip in their Christian walk. Although not in the drastic degree that Pointer does with stealing artificial body parts and carrying hollowed Bibles to hold his whiskey, nude playing cards, and condoms, every Christian does stumble in their walk. And there is always someone there to see it and make reference to it, citing how untypical that is for a Christian and then leads into lines such as what Hulga states.

        This leads into the possibility that Hulga is on a spiritual search. She tries hard to represent a completely secular view of how the world is. She claims the atheist title and studies philosophy. When she meets Pointer and he invites her to a picnic the following day, she agrees. The night before, as she thinks about the upcoming picnic, she "[imagines] that she [seduces] him" (1086). In a way, he is like the lamb that she will get to play with to show that her ideas about life are stronger than that of a Christian. Her secular beliefs and lifestyle are things that mean more to her, because she believes them to be correct. When faced with the question if she is saved, she tells Pointer, "'I'm saved and you are damned'" (1086). So in her mind, the thought of being saved is not something that only Christians can have, but is more of a point of view that everyone expresses in their own unique way. But this denial of God is perhaps a front to hidden questions deep inside of her thought waves.

        Her dream of seducing Pointer backfires on her. Manly fools her by "[making] her think he is a simple religious country bumpkin way beneath her" (Donley 1). Despite Hulga's efforts to show a great worldly belief system of hers, it is "Manly [who] is much more worldly wise than Hulga; he seduces her, instead of the other way around" (1). When he removes her glasses, they represent the shade that she, herself, sees the world through. They are her atheism. They are her ideas and beliefs. Without them, she can only see the world for what it is, as which she states that "[the] landscape [can] not seem exceptional to her for she seldom [pays] any close attention to her surroundings" (O'Connor 1088). With the removing of the glasses is also the removal of her atheism beliefs. Slowly, the facade that she carries around is gone and the spiritual conversion at the last moment begins to take place.

        When her leg is removed, she feels insecure, for that is her security. That is one thing that she holds close to her, something that no one can take away. But when Manly Pointer does just that, it only serves to open her mind more. Slowly, the roles of where each character is supposed to be on the good/evil line begin to cross over and trade places. Originally, Hulga is the one who represents that dark, bleak outlook on life, such as what would be the worldy, secular viewpoint in O'Connor's writing. Manly Pointer started out as the religious, uplifting and spiritual person who is a standard in any O'Connor story. But as the two characters converge on the second floor of the barn, the roles trade places, showing a slow transformation of Hulga from a strong, outspoken atheist, into someone who is what Pointer is originally thought to be: good country people. Without her glasses to alter a viewpoint on the world, and without a wooden leg to carry around as a shield against anything that might question her outlook, Hulga's spiritual search is free to act on its own.

        Through this spiritual search, is Hulga actually Christ-like? When he was young, Jesus Christ went to the temples and amazed the prophets with his knowledge of the scriptures. His life is forever changed after this event, for his calling in life is forever determined following that ordeal. This is similar to when Hulga was ten years, roughly the same age that Jesus was with the prophets. The hunting accident took her leg. Mrs. Hopewell says that after that, "[Hulga]Ö never danced a step or [has] any normal good times" (1078). It is a life full of an alternate form of living. No one other than the one living the life will know how it feels or what has to be endured in order to continue on in life. Both Hulga and Jesus Christ know that they made die early in life. Jesus Christ knows that His life calls for Him to be crucified once He spreads the Word of God. For Hulga, "the doctorsÖ [tell] Mrs. Hopewell that with the best of care, [Hulga] might see forty-five. She [has] a weak heart" (1079). She later addresses this ailment to Pointer after he says that he may die. She tells him, "'I may die, too'" (1085). This foreshadows a sense that her life, as she currently knows it, is about to end. Jesus Christ also has a moment such as this in the Garden of Getsenemy, where He sweats blood while praying for strength during the crucifixion that He knows is coming soon.

        Another similarity is neither Jesus nor Hulga have details of their life known again until they are in their early thirties. When Jesus Christ returns to the scriptures, he is roughly in his early thirties, most think to be thirty years old. He is baptized, an act done to show commitment to God and the start of a walk down that path. From there, He carries His ideas around to the cities. Many people listen to Him and accept His Word as the Truth so they get up to follow Him. But there are others who scoff at the Word that He has. They do not believe and try to trick Jesus into making Him forsake the Word that He carries. But He moves past that and only proves His Message stronger.

        Near the time of His crucifixion, He accepts His upcoming fate and manages with the knowledge of what will be done to Him the best that He can. He prays. He prays that God will give Him the strength for it. He then prays for those who will do it to Him. He then has Passover with his disciples, stating that the bread that they eat is His body and the wine is His blood. So directly before going onto the cross, He shared His body with those around Him.

        Hulga's prominence in the story comes after she is in her early thirties, specifically at the age of thirty-two. With the extra burden of the wooden leg, she has never had the joy of living a "normal" life that her peers are all able to enjoy. So instead, she has her own ideas and beliefs that she holds true to her heart. No one around her is able to convince her otherwise and she is actually quite blunt in the beliefs that she holds true. Her college education gives her a sense of enlightenment. Everything around her is seen through glass-covered eyes as something she likes or dislikes. There is no gray area for her.

        When she has her glasses removed, she sees everything around her in the barn as how it naturally is, without the added haze of what people say something is supposed to mean. If the eyes are the windows into the soul, then her soul is able at that point to see back through those windows into what the world is around her. All of the man-made devices cannot help her then. It is only her mind that is left to cause her to believe something other than what the reality is in front of her.

        When Hulga allows Pointer to remove her wooden leg, she is literally giving him her body before her demise. She does not die, but it is more so her upcoming change in life that is started off with offering up her body to her company. She willingly gives it up. She is not forced into it, although she is tricked into giving her leg to Pointer, unlike Jesus Christ, who knew exactly what he was doing at Passover.

        As Pointer and Hulga walk towards their picnic, "[t]he sky [is] cloudless" (1088). This is a reference to the day that Jesus Christ is crucified. On that day, as He is nailed to the cross, the sky becomes cloudless. He gives His ultimate sacrifice that day, much as how Hulga gives her leg, her ultimate sacrifice, to Pointer. For both, the times following the events are filled with anguish. Jesus hangs on the cross as His life slowly slips away from Him. For Hulga, she sits on the second floor of the barn as she watches Pointer, "his blue figure struggling successfully over the green speckled lake," (1091) disappear with her wooden leg in his valise. Her life as she knows it up until that point dies.

        Flannery O'Connor's usage of Biblical characters and situations in "Good Country People" is apparent. The Christian orthodox that she uses establishes each character as a representation of something from out of the Bible. There is no other form to her, as "she refuses to make her ideology palatable to non-Christian readers by suggesting any philosophical frame of reference other than that of Christian orthodoxy" (Drake 265). This does not hurt her, though, as "her overriding strategy is always to shock, embarrass, even outrage rationalists readers" (265) while still conveying a message that has its roots firmly entrenched in Scripture.

        O'Connor has created an atheist who is comparable to Jesus Christ. She has created a Bible-salesman who closer resembles Judas than Jesus, Who the Bibles that he sells focus on. And she has created a world of characters that have been in writing for hundreds of years. Through her imagination, she is able to transform history figures long thought to not relate to modern society and put them in a contemporary story under new names. Readers may only think that they're reading an American classic, but the truth that they are reading something that parallels scripture rather than the evening news is an underlying theme that O'Connor has mastered.

Donley, Carol. Literature Annotations. 1 June 2000. 14 Nov. 2002 .

Drake, Robert. "The Bleeding Stinking Mad Shadow of Jesus' in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor." Comparative Literature Studies. 1966. Rpt. in CLC: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Filmmakers, Screenwriters, and Other Creative Writers. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton, Gerald J. Senick. Vol. #21. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982. 264-267.

Holsen, Ruth M. "O'Connor's Good Country People." The Explicator. 42.3 (1984): 59.

"(Mary) Flannery O'Connor" CLC: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Filmmakers, Screenwriters, and Other Creative Writers. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton, Gerald J. Senick. Vol. #21. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982. 254.

McCown, Robert, S.J. Rpt. in CLC: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Filmmakers, Screenwriters, and Other Creative Writers. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton, Gerald J. Senick. Vol. #21. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982. 255-257.

O'Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People." The Complete Stories. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1971. Rpt. in Major Writers of Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford, 1993. 1076-1091.