Revelation by Flannery O'Connor Essay

Flannery O’Connor was an American author who often wrote about characters who face violent situations. These situations force the characters into a moment of crisis that awakens or alters their fate. Her short stories reflect her Roman Catholic faith and frequently discuss questions of morality and ethics. O’Connor’s Catholic upbringing influenced most of her short stories, often accumulating criticism because of her harsh portrayal of religion. O’Connor incorporates the experience of a moment of grace in her short stories to contribute to the meaning of her works and to represent her faith.

Mrs. Turpin in Flannery O’Connor’s short story Revelation, is a prejudice and judgmental woman who spends most of her life prying in the lives of everyone around her. She looks at people not for who they are, but for their race or social standing. In fact, Mrs. Turpin is concerned with race and status so much that it seems to take over her life. Although she seems to disapprove of people of different race or social class, Mrs. Turpin seems to be content and appreciative with her own life. It is not until Mrs. Turpin’s Revelation that she discovers that her ways of life are no better then those she looks down upon and they will not assure her a place in Heaven.

In class, we have read a couple of Flannery O’ Connor’s short stories which include A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Revelations. After reading these stories, I noticed that Flannery O’ Connor changes the story but in a sense keeps the same main characters in every story. The main things that change between these characters are how they decide to handle a situation and their names; the things that do not change are often the outlook that they have on the world. I noticed the grandma from A Good Man is Hard to Find and Ruby Turpin from Revelations follow the criteria that I listed above. Throughout this paper, I am going to discuss the similarities and differences between the grandma and Ruby Turpin.

Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and

does not think she is a bad person, and she cannot comprehend why she is

Turpin. The grandmother demonstrates a “superior moral attitude” when she communicates with The Misfit, telling him to “pray, pray” (O’Connor “Good Man” 365), and saying that “Jesus would help [him]” (O’Connor “Good Man” 365), even though he does not want to change. Mrs. Turpin’s beliefs are similar. She is constantly expressing gratitude toward Jesus that she was not born black or “white trash” or ugly (O’Connor “Revelation” 384). In another’s eyes, Mrs. Turpin might as well be ugly, or white trash.

Flannery O'Connor remained a devout Catholic throughout, and this fact, coupled with the constant awareness of her own impending death, both filtered through an acute literary sensibility, gives us valuable insight into just what went into those thirty-two short stories and the two novels: cathartic bitterness, a belief in grace as something devastating to the recipient, a gelid concept of salvation, and violence as a force for good. At first it might seem that these aspects of her writing would detract from,

While her themes never change much (purification through fire, self-knowledge gained via self-destruction, and the immolations brought on by racism and doubt), her telling of them is so fine and so stark, the details themselves are what really showcase her writing's true brilliance and beauty.

Many had their own opinions of O 'Connor 's work. "The literary works of Flannery O 'Connor often contend that religious belief can only be consummated by direct confrontation with evil and for those uncommitted and unprepared, tragedy seems inevitable." (Cook Online). Many of the early critics never realized that O 'Connor 's worked with revelation, which at the time, others did not (Reagan Online). As Frederick Asals once said, "Conflict, often violent conflict, is the very center of Flannery O 'Connor 's fiction"(93). Although O 'Connor 's work was awarded greatly, it was also often "dismissed" because of its "Gothic Violence" (Reagan Online). I have to agree with Dorothy Walters when she says, "...nothing is more striking than her remarkable capacity to blend the comic and the serious in a single view of reality." (13).

Each and everyday people are constantly judging one another. There are around 7 around billion people in the world and each and every single one of those people are going to have different opinions on certain aspects of life. So since each person is different in their own ways, once they see somebody that is different from them, the first instinct is to judge that person. The easiest way to judge people are by their appearances, somebody may look at someone else and see that they have on a pair of cheap shoes from Walmart, as well as no name jeans and shirt on from Walmart as well, who drives a used toyota camry. Now you could quickly come to a conclusion and say that they must be poor and are living a miserable life.

Through all odds Grace never gave up, she survived. Grace grows up in a horrible living environment, she has a physically and emotionally abusive father and a mother who does nothing to protect

Beyond symbolic individuality, Pearl’s display of resolute self-reliance through her actions is a force of nature against Puritan conformity. Her attitude towards Pastor Wilson, the public face of good conduct and religious order, is driven by a pure dedication to defying her “superior.” When Wilson asks her about her origins, it is said that a “perversity, which all children

Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything that rises Must Converge” centers around a woman and her son, Julian, in the early 1960’s. Julian’s mother is taking a weight-loss class, and as she doesn’t feel safe riding the bus at night, she insists that Julian escorts her. Julian is not a fan of his mother, who is openly racist, and argues with her about her attitude towards black people while waiting for the bus; then he sits and quietly judges her while she chats with other racist women. A black man arrives on the bus, and Julian switches seats to sit next to him, which he knows will irritate his mother. He asks the man for a lighter but only succeeds in annoying him.

Revelation is an Apocalyptic book of the Bible written by John to the seven churches. It tells of the end days where God releases His wrath on the sinners of the world. The seven seals are unfastened by the Lamb, the seven trumpets are blown by angels and the war between Satan and God is finished.

Revelation is how God willingly reveals His character, nature, and will to humanity. There seem to be two types of revelation: general revelation and special revelation. General revelation refers to how God reveals things through nature, history, and human conscience. Since it is more of a broad scope, all of humanity can access general revelation, even those who do not believe in God or read the Bible because its purpose not redemption. General revelation is important to everyone because it gives people a conscience and reveals some of God’s identity. For people who do not believe, a conscience serves as way to judge yourself. The existence of a conscience along with the intricacies of the universe may provide evidence for the existence of