Revelation
Author Flannery O¹Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, on March 25, 1925. She was born and raised Catholic, facts that defined her personal faith and helped shape her independent and ironic take on life. According to our textbook, "O¹Connor¹s fiction grapples with living a spiritual life in a secular world"(318). Her novels and stories all involve the theme of religion and questions about spirituality. In fact, in many of her stories, the main character questions his or her own faith or undergoes a major revelatory change. This essay starts of asking the question: does the main character in O¹Connor¹s short story "Revelation" undergo an actual revelation? And answers that question with a resounding "no." At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Mrs. Turpin, a loud, racist southern landowner. She believes that there are classes of people, and blacks, for example, are below homeowners, but above white trash. She does not, however, consider herself racist. This is a dangerous characteristic to have. She claims to treat blacks well, but she refers to them as "niggers" and clearly states that she is above them. Mrs. Turpin is grateful to be a "superior" white landowner who is above the white trash in the waiting
racist Mrs. Turpin actually is. Even though she would "choose" to be black, she claims she would have a hard time deciding, and she would only be black if she could be just like herself, only black. This shows that she is clearly class conscious and judgmental. is even being blasphemous. After all, her religion states "love thy neighbor" and "humbleness is a virtue." The name of the book, Human Development, is a very significant and blatant use of symbolism in the story. It suggests to the reader that Mrs. Turpin has far to go in the course of her own "human development." This story takes place during a time in history when things are changing, and people are realizing that blacks deserve equal treatment. Mrs. Turpin seems to not fully grasp the concept of black civil rights and fair treatment. The fact that a well educated girl like Mary Grace is reading a book entitled Human Development suggests to the reader that she is far more "modern" than someone like Mrs. Turpin, who has yet to "develop." O¹Connor portrays Mary Grace as someone who believes in equality and has no time for offensive jokes and reverie. She is far too "developed" for that. The first impression the reader gets of Mrs. Turpin is one of dominance. She is portrayed as "large" and "loud." She controls her husband, Claud, treating him like a child. She immediately takes over the conversation in the room and forces her opinions and thoughts onto everyone. She proceeds to judge everybody in the doctor¹s waiting room: pitying the girl with acne while she takes pride in the fact she "always had good skin"(341), and calling the "white trash" woman and child "worse than niggers"(341). After the reader is subjected to the different classes according to Mrs. Turpin, the reader hears an ironic lyric that Mrs. Turpin supplies. A hymn comes over the radio in the waiting room and "Mrs. Turpin, who knew it, supplied the last line mentally, 'And wonna these days I know I¹ll we-eara crown¹"(341). This line tells the reader that Mrs. Turpin believes she is so much better than everyone else that she wants to lord over them. She "knows" someday she¹ll be weari! If there was any doubt to the true nature of Mrs. Turpin¹s character, it is cleared up here. Mrs. Turpin is clearly portrayed as a bigoted, self-centered woman. Th
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Approximate Word count = 1567
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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