In both stories, the main characters have somewhat of a "dream" or goal. In "The Swimmer", Neddy's goal is obviously to swim in every one's pool throughout the county, whereas in "Good Country People", Mrs. Hopewell's dream is that her daughter will stop being so "ugly" (in every sense of the word) and act more like her other two daughters. Obviously, Mrs. Hopewell's dream is not realistic as she cannot expect to change other people and although Neddy's dream is realistic, it almost seems pointless- just a diversion to take his mind off of the problems in his life he apparently doesn't want to deal with. I thought the characters' names in "Good Country People" were interesting- Mrs. Freeman, who I assumed to be a black woman, has a name that would obviously suit her well- Free Man- She is also sort of a free spirit- often keeping up on what's going on in the house and with each character more than Mrs. Hopewell herself does. Mrs. Hopewell's name almost seems ironic- She does seem very hopeful, and at times, seems more optimistic about life than seems necessary- the only thing she never seems very optimistic about is Joy/Hulga- who's names are also interesting. Her mother obviously named her Joy due to her own optimism, where Hulga actually seems to suit her much better. There didn't seem to be any interesting naming in "The Swimmer".
In "The Swimmer", readers are unaware of Ned's problems until the end of the story. I kept reading wondering why this guy found so much pleasure in swimming in everyone's pool. It wasn't until the one neighbor mentioned something about the house going up for sale and the children not being well that I realized there was definitely more going on in the story than I had thought. Also, in "Good Country People", it comes as a shock that the bible salesman is actually a devious little creature only out to take weird items from women. The first time Hulga lets her guard down, she is deceived and humiliated. I didn't see a lot of common elements in the two stories other than the shocking endings- but in "The Swimmer", I wasn't sure if the ending meant that his family had left him or if they just weren't home yet. I liked "Good Country People" better than the swimmer- mostly because there was more characterization and I felt as though I could relate to the charcters whereas in "The Swimmer", we know very little about Ned's life other than the fact that he's trying to forget major parts of it.
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AH! I didn't even think that all of this had occured before he started swimming. I kept thinking that he had started swimming and then these events take place. Ah, see your version is much more tangible. Glad I caught your blog for that fact alone because that story was really pissing me off.
I agree on all aspects of the interpretation you gave of each story. I did not notice at all about the names in "Good Country People", but that makes so much sense now that I think about it. I also had no idea about what was going on with "The Swimmer" at the end, as you say you do not know if his family left him or just isn't home yet. That confused me a great deal. Very good on interpreting the reading though, I believe it helped me understand it a lot more than I actually did while reading it.
I agree on all aspects of the interpretation you gave of each story. I did not notice at all about the names in "Good Country People", but that makes so much sense now that I think about it. I also had no idea about what was going on with "The Swimmer" at the end, as you say you do not know if his family left him or just isn't home yet. That confused me a great deal. Very good on interpreting the reading though, I believe it helped me understand it a lot more than I actually did while reading it.
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