Good Country People
Flannery O?Connor?s Use of Irony in ?Good Country People?
?Good Country People? by Flannery O?Connor is an excellent example of irony in literature. From beginning to end it has a steady demonstration of irony, much of it implied in the title of the story, ?Good Country People.? As the story opens, we meet Mrs. Freeman, wife of the hired hand. She and her husband have been working for Mrs. Hopewell for four years. ?The reason for her keeping them so long was that they were not trash. They were ?Good Country People,?? according to Mrs. Hopewell (396). Ironically one of the first things we learn about Mrs. Freeman is that her previous employer has called her the nosiest woman ever to walk the earth. Then, as the story progresses, we learn she has a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children. It seems that for a good country person she has a vicious curiosity in the macabre. She particularly enjoys hearing all the details of how Hulga had her leg literally blasted off in a hunting accident. In affect, O?Connor exposes a cynical and ironic outlook of Hulga in ?Good Country People? that is told
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