Since 1945: Short Answer Quiz

Flannery O’Connor, “Good Country People”


  1. “Besides the neutral expression that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse, that she used for all her human dealings. Her forward expression was steady and driving like the advance of a heavy truck. Her eyes never swerved to left or right but turned as the story turned as if they followed a yellow line down the center of it. She seldom used the other expression because it was not often necessary for her to retract a statement, but when she did, her face came to a complete stop, there was an almost imperceptible movement of her black eyes, during which they seemed to be receding, and then the observer would see that Mrs. Freeman, though she might stand there as real as several grain sacks thrown on top of each other, was no longer there in spirit” (2529 [full ed.] 2569 [shorter ed.]). Most of the story hinges on Hulga’s relationship with her mother and the Bible salesman who meets them both, yet O’Connor begins her story with Mrs. Freeman. Based on the language of thee opening lines, how does the narrator introduce Mrs. Freeman? What do her three characteristic facial expressions have to do with the main plot of the story?

  1. To Mrs. Hopewell, there are “good country people” and there are “trash.” Partly this categorization of society may have something to do with her three favorite sayings: “Nothing is perfect. This was one of Mrs. Hopewell’s favorite sayings. Another was: that is life! And still another, the most important, was: well, other people have their opinions too” (2530 [full ed.] 2571 [shorter ed.]). What are the results of Mrs. Hopewell’s way of thinking of other people on herself and Hulga? Now, compare Mrs. Hopewell’s sayings to the Bible salesman’s last lines: “‘I hope you don’t think,’ he said in a lofty indignant tone, ‘that I believe in that crap! I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday and I know where I’m going!’” (2542 [full ed.] 2582 [shorter ed.]). What similarities do you see in the language?

  1. Hulga and her mother have a vexed relationship. Consider these lines: “When Mrs. Hopewell thought the name, Hulga, she thought of the broad blank hull of a battleship. She would not use it” (2531 [full ed.] 2572 [shorter ed.]); and “It seemed to Mrs. Hopewell that every year she grew less like other people and more like herself—bloated, rude, and squint-eyed” (2533 [full ed.] 2573 [shorter ed.]). Part of Mrs. Hopewell’s disdain may derive from Hulga’s name change—here are the lines in which the narrator provides Hulga’s perspective on her new name: “She had a vision of the name working like the ugly sweating Vulcan who stayed in the furnace and to whom, presumably, the goddess had to come when called. She saw it as the name of her highest creative act. One of her major triumphs was that her mother had not been able to turn her dust into Joy, but the greater one was that she had been able to turn it herself into Hulga” (2532 [full ed.] 2572 [shorter ed.]). What significance does each of these characters see in Hulga’s name? Use the language in these lines to describe their mother-daughter relationship.

  1. “The kiss, which had more pressure than feeling behind it, produced that extra surge of adrenalin in the girl that enables one to carry a packed trunk out of a burning house, but in her, the power went at once to the brain. Even before he released her, her mind, clear and detached and ironic anyway, was regarding him from a great distance, with amusement but with pity. She had never been kissed before and she was pleased to discover that it was an unexceptional experience and all a matter of the mind’s control. Some people might enjoy drain water if they were told it was vodka. When the boy, looking expectant but uncertain, pushed her gently away, she turned and walked on, saying nothing as if such business, for her, were common enough” (2539 [full ed.] 2579 [shorter ed.]). Assume that the narrator is giving us Hulga’s perspective in these lines, and then describe how you know that Hulga feels in control over the situation in these moments.



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