Joy-Hulga from Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People" and Dee-Wangero from Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" are strong protagonists who share motivations and similar characteristics. Joy-Hulga and Dee-Wangero both change their names in an attempt to change themselves. They both share comparable motivations and reasoning for changing their name. Likewise, Joy-Hulga and Dee-Wangero act selfishly trying to escape something from their past. Joy-Hulga and Dee-Wangero both distance themselves from their mothers while searching for their authentic inner selves. Joy-Hulga and Dee-Wangero hide from past events from their childhood, consciously and unconsciously. Although their motivations and characteristics are similar, their origins and heritage are extremely diverse. Joy-Hulga and Dee-Wangero share the same motivations and reasoning for changing their name, to gain autonomy while changing themselves. Joy changes her name to Hulga because it is ugly like her character and completely opposite to her first name. Joy-Hulga not only tries to make her mother angry, but also to change herself. When Joy-Hulga turns twenty-one, she immediately leaves home and changes her name in an “attempt to reorient her life,” without telling her mother before doing so (Feeley 236). Joy changes her name to Hulga, which Mrs. Hopewell is certain she chose only because it was the "ugliest" name she had ever encountered "in any language" (O'Connor 190). Joy chooses the name Hulga first because of “its ugly sound,” but then perceives it as one of her “major triumphs” (190). Joy-Hulga succeeds in changing her name, displeases her mother and recovers. Conversely, Dee changes her name to Wangero to rebel against her heritage and...... middle of paper...... and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 2137-2138. McCarthy, John F. “Human Intelligence versus Divine Truth: The Intellectual in the Works of Flannery O'Connor.” English Journal 55.9 (1966): 1143-1148. JSTOR. Internet. November 22, 2011. O'Connor, Flannery. “Essays and letters on the “good people of the countryside”” Literature: reading fiction, poetry and theater. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 233-234. O'Connor, Flannery. “Good country people. » Literature: reading fiction, poetry and theater. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 188-201. Walker, Alice. “Daily use.” Literature: reading fiction, poetry and drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007. 743-749. Fight, Louise. “The Mothers and Daughters of Flannery O’Connor.” Twentieth Century Literature 24.4 (1978): 510-522. JSTOR. Internet. November 22. 2011.