Revelation by Flannery O'Connor
"Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor is a short story that revolves around Mrs. Ruby Turpin, a character who exemplifies the author's keen satire of social and moral pretensions. Set in a doctor's waiting room, the narrative explores Mrs. Turpin's self-image and the judgments she makes about others, reflecting a broader critique of societal norms and the superficial nature of identity. O'Connor uses Mrs. Turpin's interactions with a diverse cast of characters, including a young woman named Mary Grace, to illustrate themes of spiritual blindness and the absurdity of social hierarchies.
As Mrs. Turpin clings to her notions of superiority based on external appearances and social status, she remains oblivious to her own moral failings. The story deftly contrasts her self-satisfaction with Mary Grace's violent outburst, which forces a confrontation with her own vanity and prejudice. The climax occurs when Mrs. Turpin receives a disturbing vision that challenges her beliefs about her place in the world, suggesting that those she considers inferior may hold a closer relationship with the divine. Through this compelling narrative, O'Connor invites readers to reflect on the complexities of identity, grace, and the often-blind nature of societal judgments.
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Revelation by Flannery O'Connor
First published: 1964
The Work
The character in “Revelation” whose point of view readers experience, Mrs. Ruby Turpin, typifies one of author Flannery O’Connor’s satiric identities. Most of the story takes place in a doctor’s waiting room, and Mrs. Turpin categorizes the other people in the room in reference to her own self-image. Mrs. Turpin, to a limited extent, represents a generation of morally blind Southern ladies in cotton print dresses and pillbox hats.
The bulk of the irony in this story is directed at Mrs. Turpin’s spiritual blindness and the falseness of her identity, but there is also an implicit criticism of the extent to which body type and external appearance become important to identity in American culture. For example, Mrs. Turpin describes herself as overweight, but rejoices that her “good disposition” compensates for it and that her obesity does not take away her good looks. It is also difficult for the reader to resist judging Mrs. Turpin in the same manner that she judges the others in the waiting room.
Mrs. Turpin sees a young woman in the office whom she pityingly describes as ugly, her face “blue with acne.” Ironically, the mother of the girl is the only other occupant of the room described as a “lady,” although there are several other females. The acne-sufferer’s mother becomes known to readers as “the well-dressed lady,” her social status defined by her clothes and her genteel disposition. Mrs. Turpin’s pity for the daughter, whose name turns out to be Mary Grace, derives solely from her appearance and disposition. As Mrs. Turpin mouths her banalities, Mary Grace glowers behind her college textbook.
O’Connor’s characterizations have often been criticized as flat caricature, which might seem to limit the theme of identity. Yet O’Connor’s fiction can illustrate the extent to which false identities are often formed by cliché and epithet. Even the names of some of her characters reveal a partial identity: Mrs. Turpin’s name suggests “turpitude,” which literally means “ugliness,” but in moral philosophy refers to immorality. Averse to physical ugliness, and proud of her own good looks (although wishing she could lose weight), Mrs. Turpin is nevertheless blind to her moral turpitude. She thanks Jesus that she is saved. The name Mary Grace, on the other hand, suggests the mother of Jesus—a heavy irony, considering what Mrs. Turpin sees: a surly, ugly youth. The name “Grace” may be a further irony: Lacking grace in the worldly sense, the clumsy, homely, bookish girl becomes a conduit of God’s grace for Mrs. Turpin. When Mary Grace (in a violent outburst typical of O’Connor’s fiction) becomes disgusted with the inane platitudes that Mrs. Turpin is dispensing to her audience in the waiting room, she hurls her book at Mrs. Turpin. She also flings something even more wounding, an insult; she calls Mrs. Turpin a warthog from hell.
The insult scores direct hits on the two sources of Mrs. Turpin’s pride, her identity: her appearance and her churchgoing righteousness. That night she receives a disturbing vision of all the people she categorized as behind her in the hierarchy of Southern society—“niggers,” “white trash,” “freaks,” and “lunatics”—getting to heaven before her. She recalls the passage from Scripture about how the last shall be first. The insult, she fears, was a message from God.
Bibliography
Asals, Frederick. Flannery O’Connor: The Imagination of Extremity. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1982.
Bloom, Harold. Flannery O’Connor. New York: Chelsea House, 1986.
Cash, Jean W. Flannery O'Connor: A Life. University of Tennessee, 2002.
Shloss, Carol. Flannery O’Connor’s Dark Comedies: The Limits of Inference. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.
Walters, Dorothy. Flannery O’Connor. Boston: Twayne, 1973.