Essay Sample - Good Country People

Vision is the sense of sight using eyes, and it is considered as the function of faith. Seeing entails the action of looking at something using eyesight. Vision and seeing are two terms that have been used frequently in the Good Country People short story written by Flannery O'Connor and published in the year 1955 (Berke et al. 730). Using the terms vision and seeing, the author, Flannery O'Connor, represents different identities of people, the roles of the intellect, as well as intellectualism and physical challenges that hinder people from growing their identity. The paper considers the differences between vision and seeing in the short story Good Country People to identify the characters whose vision or sight begins and ends the story as well as describing the blind characters and those who really sees according to Flannery O'Connor.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Vision and seeing in Good Country people are used to demonstrate the physical ability to look at something and the power of perspective in the spirit. For instance, at the beginning of the story, O'Connor describes the expression of Mrs. Freeman to provide the reader with a difference between vision and seeing. O'Connor stated, "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" (1). This statement reveals the meaning of seeing as the action of moving the eyes. The author goes on to state that "and then the observer would see that Mrs. Freeman, though she might stand there as real as several grain sacks ... was no longer there in spirit" (O'Connor 1). The succeeding phrase describes a vision as something that occurs in the spirit or faith. The person cannot see physically, but the spiritual aspect is at work. When referring to Mrs. Freeman's description by O'Connor, it is evident that even though the physical eyes are there, and she was looking at something, the spiritual vision was not there. It shows that seeing occurs in the material while vision occurs in the spirit.

In the Good Country people, the sight that begins and ends the story is that of Mrs. Freeman, as presented by Flannery O'Connor. At the beginning of the story, "there was an almost imperceptible movement of her black eyes" (O'Connor 1). At the end of the short story, "Mrs. Freeman's drove forward and just touched him before he disappeared under the hill" (O'Connor 19). These two passages describe the use of sight by Mrs. Freeman in what she was doing. The author focus on Mrs. Freeman in the beginning, and the end of the story was to reveal the possibility of having eyes and not using them when the spirit is at work. A person tends to see more with the soul than the physical eyes when in the thought process. The last phrases of Mrs. Freeman in the short story imply that an individual can see the Bible selling man is a different way, not as simple as how Joy-Hulga and Mrs. Hopewell felt (Unit 5: Literature after 1945 1).

The blind characters in The Good Country people are those people who cannot make meaning of their life or what they should do. Mrs. Hopewell is one of the blind characters in the short story. O'Connor describes Mrs. Hopewell "could not understand deliberate rudeness, although she lived with it, and she felt she always had to overflow with hospitality to make up for Joy's lack of courtesy" (8). Based on this phrase, Mrs. Hopewell is blind as she cannot see or perceive her rudeness but able to realize that of another. A character who really sees in the Good Country People is Joy. When addressing the man selling the Bibles, Joy was keen to realize the reaction of Mrs. Hopewell towards the man. Joy said, "I can't be rude to anybody" (O'Connor, 8). Joy is capable of seeing the rude behavior of Mrs. Hopewell and does not want to behave the same towards the young man. That was prudent and honest was of keeping her Christian faith when compared to Mrs. Hopewell.

In conclusion, the difference between vision and seeing in Good Country People presents the behavior of the characters who really see and those who are blind. They are terms that demonstrate the possibility of perceiving using the spirit and the capability of having physical eyes and not using them based on particular situations and especially when a person is in deep thought. The soul sees what is non-physical, and the eyes see what is physical. Mrs. Freeman is a character whose sight begins and ends in the story. Mrs. Hopewell is a blind character, while Joy is one person who really sees in the Good Country People. Those who really sees can discern the appropriateness of their actions, behave, and act in the right manner.

Works Cited

Berke, Amy., Bleil, Robert., Cofer, Jordan., and Davis, Dough. Writing the Nation: A Concise Introduction to American Literature 1865-Present. The University of North Georgia, University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-940771-34-2

O'Connor, Flannery. Good Country People. http://faculty.weber.edu/Jyoung/English%206710/Good%20Country%20People.pdfUnit 5: Literature after 1945. Analysis of "Good Country People." 1-3.