I agree with the thoughts of Andre Bleikastan regarding O’Connor’s work. I think multiple interpretations of a lot of works can be very valid. But a reader does himself, the work, and the author a disservice if they do not consider the intentions of the author. You should to factor the authors point of view and what they are trying to accomplish. At the same time an author’s work should be able to stand on its own without completely knowing their intents. Their intention should come across on the page.
In her story “Good Country People” Flannery O’Connor as in many of her stories evokes religion as a major theme as it relates to the characters. It’s hard to look at a story like “Good Country People” without seeing a religious meaning or at least seeing the intentions of O’Connor. Religion (or thoughts on religion) has has a strong level of prominence with virtually all the characters that populate the story.
The hypocrisy of religion or christianity is perhaps the strongest theme present related to the story. Beyond hypocrisy it is almost a hollowness to the religion or faith of the characters. The most blatant example of this is Manley Pointer. He comes across as well intended. His profession of being a bible salesman gives the impression to some that he is a man of character, or a “man of God” perhaps. He’s really just a con man, using religion as a facade o that people will think better of him than he is and let their guard down. His hollowed out bible being filled with booze and condoms, as revealed towards the end of the story is really a great symbol of Manley himself, but also of general religious hypocrisy and emptiness and religion as a facade.
A subtler example of this is Mrs. Hopewell. She doesn’t have a hollowed out bible and doesn’t steal hulgas leg, she’s not a con woman. But she seems to lack character as well. She claims to be of strong religion though she openly admits to not caring much about the bible. She also has a dim worldview where people are basically either “good country people” or “trash”. She very much fits in with themes of hypocrisy and hollowness of religion. To her it seems it’s mealey something to give her license to feel morally superior (a facade) more than it is an actual faith.
I’d say O’Connor fairs pretty well with getting a primarily religious interpretation or meaning to the audience through the story. That’s not to say that they’re aren’t other themes or interpretations that are valid that deviate from this. Hulga is very educated, smart and philosophical, but she has poor judgement of character (her mother also is not the best judge of character. The story also evoke the idea that just because you’re smart, or educated, or religious etc. doesn’t mean you’re a good judge of character, or that you understand people.
I like you’re notion of “religion being hollow” as a theme! It’s not one I picked up on my first time around, and I don’t think I would have been able to see by myself either. Considering the story from that theme really changes everything. Good Country People becomes a warning about the folly of “religion,” that is, “speaking and acting a certain way to fit social standards.” Without true faith, all religions in this story are empty. Ms. Hopewell’s faith is just for social status. Pointer’s lack of faith is for personal gain. And ironically, Hulga’s belief that she’s above religion (and grace) points out that she’s the one who needs it most.
However, I didn’t have such an easy time seeing it as a morals story. Heck, I didn’t even know O’Connor had a religion until we studied her life a few days ago. (And I was very surprised to discover she was Catholic given the gruesome nature of subject matter…) I’m a protestant Christian, and it took me several readings of Good Country People to get even a vague sense of morality out of it. I mostly read it as a trickster story, and laughed when Hulga realized what a mess she’d gotten herself into for being proud!
But good reading of the text! You picked up on a lot of things I didn’t notice and gave me a better understanding of the story. (Sorry for the long post, bud. We’ve both got 200 word to write, and I dumped mine on your blog XD. Good luck with your response!)