Revelation by Flannery O'Connor

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.