Flannery OConnors Short Story Revelation - Essay Example

Revelation Flannery O’Connor’s short story, Revelation, is part of a collection of her short stories referred to as Everything That Rises Must Converge, published in 1965. O’Connor, who was quite a devout Roman Catholic, compiled the collection in the course of her battle with lupus. She used religious themes in most of her works. Using the biographical theory, I believe the author used her life experiences and understanding in the composition of her works. This essentially means that the author’s focus centered on her life and thought, which, in turn, influenced her literature rather remarkably. The comprehension of Flannery O’Connor’s battle with lupus, as well as her belief in Roman Catholic ideologies, adds to the appreciation of her writing. This paper will use the biographical theory to critique O’Connor’s short story Revelation. O’Connor’s background influenced her writing of Revelation. The plot centers on O’Connor’s experiences and thoughts, for instance, a notable inspiration of her story is her Southern upbringing. In her lifetime, Southerners were prejudicial towards people on account of their races and lifestyles. Southerners believed that people less fortunate than them were inferior to them, thereby, labeling people as different things. Southerners offered O’Connor necessary images to construct the characters, for instance, in Revelation, character identification occurs on the basis of their physical features and race. For example, Mrs. Turpin makes racially prejudicial statements referring to characters such as a classy woman as “well-dressed and pleasant”, a teenager as “ugly”, a poor woman as “white trash” and her black workers as “niggers”. The characteristics that Mrs. Turpin uses to label characters exemplify O’Connor’s Southern lifestyle. Another influence on O’Connor’s story is her illness, which pushed her to use some degree of anger and violence to demonstrate levels of sadness in the story’s plot. Notably, her illness brought immense sadness to O’Connor and such sadness flowed to her paper through her pen. However, despite her illness, O’Connor was quite proud and content with herself, although she was not perfectly fortified (Bailey 204). However, the most substantial influence on Revelation is O’Connor’s religion. Religion is one of the most prominent themes of the story. O’Connor’s Catholic heritage is the main influencer of this theme. Similar to other authors, O’Connor appears fascinated by the subject of the actuality of sin, as well as its effects on humans. Through the story, O’Connor demonstrates reality and personal qualities as determinants of people’s destiny and fate, which ultimately uncovers social truths. This background, a plausible plot, convincing characterization and viable literary devices, enable O’Connor to develop themes such as religion and the essence appreciating people for their deeds rather than exterior. In order to develop these themes, O’Connor establishes a credible plot using social conflict, an unhappy ending and the element of surprise. Revelation has both minor and serious social conflicts, for instance; the minor conflict is essentially between Mrs. Turpin and the woman dubbed white-trash. This conflict emanates from Mrs. Turpin’s belief that she is of a superior socioeconomic rank than the other woman. The story’s serious conflict is between the teenage girl and Mrs. Turpin, which accelerates in the story, particularly through Mrs. Turpin’s facial expressions and rude gestures and remarks towards the teenager. For instance, Mrs. Turpin considers the teenager’s face as the “ugliest face she has ever seen anyone make” (O’Connor 394). In order to develop the story’s themes further, O’Connor uses clear motivation, plausibility and unswerving behavior to fortify the story’s convincing characterizations. Mrs. Turpin is always curious and observant of those around and victimizes other characters. Mrs. Turpin gains her motivation from her deep-seated insecurity. O’Connor also utilizes crucial literary devices such as foreshadowing and symbolism, which allow her to emphasize the themes and plot. In Revelation, O’Connor uses comic relief to mask what she is truly saying. The story includes various points of symbolism, for instance, the teenage girl’s dislike towards Mrs. Turpin exemplifies the girl’s displeasure with societal norms, which label people according to their physical characteristics. The book the girl hurls at Mrs. Turpin is also symbolic of the need for human development showcased by shifting from the aforementioned norms. In addition, the different types of people in the doctor’s office symbolize the diversity inherent in the society, particularly in terms of social classes (Teilhard De 93). For example, the white-trashy woman signifies the lowest social class characterized by uneducated intelligence. Mrs. Turpin, however, symbolizes the middle, working class characterized by average intelligence, as well as educated background. O’Connor uses foreshadowing, for instance, the teenage girl’s facial actions and expressions exemplify conflict between herself and Mrs. Turpin. Notably, the girl’s smirks and grunts towards Mrs. Turpin underpin the conflict between the two (Murray 62). The intensity of these rude gestures foreshadows the eminent confrontation between Mrs. Turpin and Mary Grace. According to O’ Connor (825), the girl’s hateful gaze toward Mrs. Turpin intensifies until the girl’s eyes are “fixed like two drills on Mrs. Turpin”. As noted, O’Connor effectively makes use of foreshadowing and symbolism as vital literary devices in Revelation. With regard to O’Connor’s use of climax in Revelation, the story reaches its pinnacle when Mary Grace hurls her book and smacks Mrs. Turpin’s eyes. The climax is significant in the story since the so-called ugly girl chooses to throw the book at the woman’s eyes. This indicates that Mary Grace recognized, in Mrs. Turpin’s eyes, what others did not see, that is, the prejudicial and judgmental manner in which Mrs. Turpin evaluated others around her based on their appearance and race. Right after the attack, Mrs. Turpin’s “vision narrowed, and she saw everything as if it were happening in a small room far away, or as if she were looking through the wrong end of a telescope" (O’Connor 826). Therefore, the attack was Mrs. Turpin’s turning point towards social justice. After appreciating O’Connor’s background, the story’s plot and literary devices, one gains an in-depth understanding of why Revelation has immense literary value. Revelation is a doorway to O’Connor’s beliefs regarding mankind, as well as the mysteries inherent in humanity. Through the story, O’Connor effectively revealed her outlook towards prejudices and the impacts of certain people on the human race (Teilhard De 11). Works Cited Bailey, B. “Between the House and the Chicken Yard.” Virginia Quarterly Review (Spring 2009): 202–205. Print. Murray, L. V. The Abbess of Andalusia: A Spiritual Biography of Flannery O'Connor. North Carolina: Saint Benedict Press, 2009. Print. O’Connor, F. “Revelation” In Everything That Rises Must Converge. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965. Print. Teilhard De, C. P. Building the Earth and the Psychological Conditions of Human Unification. Ohio: Avon Press, 1969. Print. Read More