Revelation by Flannery O'Connor
Ruby Turpin measures all things and sees all people by assuming the role of God and placing people into her own caste system. Before going to bed at night, instead of saying her prayers she, she assumes this role. On page 491, we see Mrs. Turpin admitting that “sometimes [she] occupied herself at night naming the classes of people.” She goes on to identify the classes as she sees them. After she neatly places everyone in their caste, her mind then begins to think on the true complexity of the situation, i.e., colored dentists, common folk with more money and land than she, “decent” people who had lost their money, etc, and her mind sort of jumbles and forgets about all that unpleasantness. Mrs. Turpin also views herself as a devout Christian, as is evidenced by several passages throughout the text. And in one mental conversation with herself, on page 491, she reflects on what status she would have chosen to be if she had had a choice. By the word choice that she has Jesus use in this mental dialogue, “You can either be a nigger or white trash”, I understand that Mrs. Turpin feels as though her classifications are OK with God. The doctor’s office, in which a majority of the story takes place
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Some common words found in the essay are:
OK God, Ruby Turpin, God O'Connor, white trash, ruby turpin, page 491, poor white trash, righteous perch, ugly daughter, wart hog, common folk, ugly girl, nature human, poor white,
Approximate Word count = 879
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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