51 pages 1 hour read

Flannery O'Connor

Good Country People

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1955

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

“Good Country People”

  • Genre: Fiction; Southern Gothic short fiction
  • Originally Published: 1955
  • Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
  • Structure/Length: Short story; approx. 17 pages; 1,499 words
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: Hulga (née Joy) Hopewell, the well-educated unmarried daughter of an intelligent Southern woman who makes a point of championing “good country people,” usually rejects her mother’s outlook but finds herself drawn in by the innocence of a Bible salesman who she thinks is in love with her, but who ultimately steals her wooden leg and leaves her stranded, mocking her for believing in him.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Passing mention of “Negroes” who exist on the margins of the white characters’ world

Flannery O’Connor, Author

  • Bio: 1925-1964; born in Savannah, Georgia; attended Catholic schools as a youth, in keeping with her family’s faith; finished an accelerated undergraduate program at Georgia State College for Women and studied fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop; went on to publish two novels and two short story collections; known for her sharp social critiques of affectation, triviality, and religious hypocrisy, O’Connor has sustained criticism in recent years for the racist attitudes displayed in her letters; had and died from lupus, the same autoimmune illness that had killed her father, at 39 years old; posthumous recipient of the 1972 National Book Award for The Complete Stories
  • Other Works: Wise Blood (1952); A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955); The Violent Bear It Away (1960); Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965); The Complete Stories (1971)

Related Titles

By Flannery O'Connor

Study Guide

logo

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O'Connor

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O'Connor

Study Guide

logo

A Late Encounter with the Enemy

Flannery O'Connor

A Late Encounter with the Enemy

Flannery O'Connor

Study Guide

logo

Everything That Rises Must Converge

Flannery O'Connor

Everything That Rises Must Converge

Flannery O'Connor

Plot Summary

logo

The Displaced Person

Flannery O'Connor

The Displaced Person

Flannery O'Connor

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Flannery O'Connor

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Flannery O'Connor

Study Guide

logo

The Violent Bear It Away

Flannery O'Connor

The Violent Bear It Away

Flannery O'Connor

Study Guide

logo

Wise Blood

Flannery O'Connor

Wise Blood

Flannery O'Connor