Lack Of Faith In Flannery O 'Connor's Good Country People'

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Intellect versus Lack of Faith Some of our differences may lead to controversy, such as the popular topic: why there is life on Earth. However, we are not born with opinions or beliefs, we develop these concepts as we mature. A belief that is booming within our youth today is Atheism. To be an Atheist you are in a state of questioning whether God is real or a myth. There are numerous reasons as to why someone would disbelieve in God, such as, science over ruling religious beliefs, traumatic situations leaving you to think, “god would of helped me” or “if there were a ‘god’, then this wouldn’t of happened”, and there are people who are just plain old confused. Hatred and evil live within all of us and anyone can allow it override their true…show more content…
What made O’Connor such a unique southern writer was her ability to tie religion and the outside world together into one story (Teachout 2). In Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”, Joy- Hulga, who was originally named “Joy”, suffered through a traumatic hunting accident and lost her leg. Since the accident Joy-Hulga has lost all faith in life and compensates her lack of faith with concrete ideas. Joy-Hulga also has a heart condition that shortens her life tremendously, which reflects the loss of compassion for life. Joy-Hulga’s mother, Mrs. Hopewell, does everything she can to satisfy Joy-Hulga’s needs and does not receive anything but hatred in return. Mrs. Hopewell is flawed with judgmental characteristics her self, she believes that she is of a higher class and anyone below her are either trash or good country people and that they are the “salt of the earth” (O’Connor 374). Through out the story “Good Country People” Joy-Hulga has a sense of intellectual pride making her narcissistic…show more content…
In theory, we have different aspects of intelligence other than the simplified categories “street smarts” and “book smarts”; it’s a bit more complex. Our intelligences range all over a spectrum such as musical, athletic, logical-mathematical, linguistic and interpersonal. Gardner’s theory makes it possible for everyone to be considered intelligent in at least one aspect. In Joy-Hulga’s world, no one can sum up to her mental capability. Joy-Hulga feels as though she is right about everything, and that her opinions are valid since she obtained a Ph. D. in philosophy. According to Howard Gardner’s theory, Joy-Hulga meets intelligence that is more concrete; she believes that there is a specific reason for world phenomenon rather than a God. According to Mark K. Smith, Howard Gardner’s theory consists of seven different intelligences and Joy-Hulga lacks two very important intelligences, which are “interpersonal intelligence” and “Intrapersonal intelligence”. Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people (Smith, Mark K.) Joy-Hulga is completely oblivious to the world around her, considering she has been a hermit in her childhood home for majority of her adulthood, she does not understand human interaction but swears that she capable of manipulating almost anyone, such as
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