Identify at least three allusions in the story
and explain their significance.
Flannery O’Connor’s religious allusions are
present in most of her short stories that we have read. In “Revelation,” the
main character, Mrs. Turpin, the protagonist of the story has a major flaw,
which is revealed repeatedly throughout the story. She has a great sense of
satisfaction in her own sense of propriety. As she looks around the waiting
room she continuously reminds herself how lucky she is because she is neither a
negro nor white trash. She also comforts herself with the idea that she would
at least be a good person if she were to be white trash or a negro. Most of the
time she spends in the waiting room is spent on judging the people around her
and feeling sorry for them. This
reveals a lot about her personality and an irony forms when she thinks to
herself that she would be a well respected and liked negro or white trash. It
is also ironic that she describes herself as a good Christian when all she does
is judge the people around her. It is also important to note that she judges
people according to their race and class. This not only makes her a bad person
but also a bad Christian unlike what she believes. An allusion therefore in the
story is that in the Bible and in God’s eyes all are equal no matter what their
races are. Though Mrs. Turpin believes she is already "saved” because of
her Christian faith, she needs a revelation from Mary Grace to realize that her
worldview is inconsistent with her Christianity. Even though she think she is a
good Christian because she gives ice water to black people and treats her black
workers nicely it is not how we act but actually the truth and our mind that
makes us a good person or not. For Mrs. Turpin being a good Christian is about
actions; however she fails to understand that what you believe in when you act
is also important.
Another allusion in the story comes from the
civil right movement by the black people. We can understand this through the
dialogue Mrs. Turpin has with the other lady in the waiting room where she
explains that white folks are now nearly equal to white folks and how you can’t
get negroes to pick up cotton anymore.
What is the revelation Mrs. Turpin
experiences?
Mrs. Turpin occupies her thoughts by putting
the people in the waiting room into what she considers to be their "proper
categories," using clichés, which clearly reveal her view of the world.
Even though she believes she is a good Christian she fails to understand that
in order to be a good Christian you also have to be good at heart and also
inside your mind. She believes that being a good Christian is giving to
charity, however, she only does this to seem and make herself believe she is a
good Christian however she truly isn’t. Towards the end of the story her
revelation comes from Mary Grace. She understands that her actions aren’t
enough to be a good Christian. She sees a vision where she sees herself
following behind negros and white trash towards the path of God. With this
vision she understands that in God’s eyes all people are equal.
By the end of the story, Mrs. Turpin realizes
that in order to be a good Christian as well as a good person she needs to have
a good heart, through her revelation due to Mary Grace.
What circumstances triggered her revelation?
Mrs. Turpin has to have a revelation in order
to understand how a truly good Christian person is. Through her revelation she
understands what she has done wrong and understands that she needs to have a
good heart in order to be a good person. The hypocrisy created by Mrs. Turpin
is what triggers her revelation. The hypocrisy she represents causes Mary Grace
to be furious at her because even though she seems like a nice lady, Mary grace
understands what is going through her head through Mrs. Turpin’s judgmental
looks around the waiting room, which to her surprise is filled with people from
different social groups. Mrs. Turpin’s actions and her thoughts contrast
greatly and thus triggers her revelation.
Ruby Turpin’s experience seems to be something
revealed to her by another agency? Identify that agency and explain how
O’Connor crafts that agency into her story.
Mary Grace is the observer who understands the
truth behind Mrs. Turpin’s actions and she is greatly disturbed by it. She refuses
to get in a dialogue with Mrs. Turpin and stares at her as if she were reading
her mind, which Mrs. Turpin also worries about. Therefore it can be said that
Mary Grace’s actions are like a message to Mrs. Turpin because Mary Grace is
like a reflection of Mrs. Turpin in a way because she stares at her like Mrs.
Turpin stares at other people then attacks her like Mrs. Turpin attacks the
people around her inside her mind.
Mary Grace is attack is represented like a message from God to Mrs.
Turpin because of the abrupt attack.
Select three statements from the story and
explain the meaning O’Connor squeezed into their context.
“Why me”
“Who do you think you are?”
“The message had been given to Ruby Turpin, a
respectable, hard-working, church- going woman.”
All three of these quotes by Rudy Turpin have
one thing in common and that is that they show how self-satisfied Mrs. Turpin
was before her revelation. In each of these quotes she has a hard time
understanding why God and Mary Grace choose her since she is a good Christian
and a respectable hard-working person. The first quote serves to make the
reader understand that she was not expecting to be given a message like that or
be attacked like that because in her eyes she has always been respectful and
nice to everyone which are actions of a good Christian. The second quotes
serves to show both the people in the story and the reader how she feels
superior over everyone else. The third quote serves for the same purpose as it’s
there to show the reader how she feels about herself and that she doesn’t
deserve anything that has happened to her.
