Though this work is somewhat comical, the title, “Revelation,” reveals its religious connotation. I’ve paid attention to religious clues, but it is after the second reading that I discover and understand more. Why is “the girl” throwing the book, Human Development, at Mrs. Turpin? What does “Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart dog” mean? What revelation does Flannery O’Connor wants to express?
Mrs. Turpin is a nice person that she takes care of her husband, she works hard, and she goes to church. She does not pray for beauty or wealth, instead, “Make me a good woman and it doesn’t matter what else, how fat or how ugly or how poor!” She thanks Jesus that “He had made her herself and given her a little of everything.” For all these, she thinks she can be saved. However, she is not admitted to Heaven yet and Mary Grace is the messenger.
Why is Mrs. Turpin not saved? Her own classification of people and the title of the book read and thrown by Mary provide the answer. Mrs. Turpin sorts people according to skin colors and ownership of houses and lands. Although she tries to be humble that she has only “‘a little’ of everything,” Mrs. Turpin actually thinks herself superior to the white-trash and niggers. She thinks all African Americans want to “improve their color” because the white is better, more modern and civilized along the history of “human development.” Therefore, Jesus Christ makes Mary Grace attack her to stop her vaunt and vanity and, more important, to pass the message. In view of this, the “you” in “What you got to say to me?” could both be Mary Grace, on the surface, and Jesus Christ, on a religious level.
Mary Grace’s name clearly tells us she is someone different, rather than just a fat, cynical girl. Mary is the name of the virgin mother of Jesus Christ, and Catholics often regard her as the intercessor and protector between them and God. As “a devout Roman Catholic,” Flannery O’Connor sets the character Mary Grace as an intercessor for Mrs. Turpin to let her know she is not guaranteed redemption and to lead her to grace, atonement from Jesus’ crucifixion. Besides the implication of the name, we can also see O’Connor’s arrangement in paragraph 35: “The girl’s eyes seemed lit all of a sudden with a peculiar light.” Interpreting from the religious aspect, it is possible that the figure Mary Grace sees is Jesus Christ. But, Mrs. Turpin “could not see anything” for she is too arrogant and confident.
Then, what is the revelation Jesus Christ wants to tell Mrs. Turpin? Hearing “Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog,” Mrs. Turpin is bewildered that she queries “How am I a hog and me both? How am I saved and from hell too?” “Wart hog” is undoubtedly a metaphor. Mrs. Turpin regards hogs intelligent and clean animals just as how she regards herself. Although she is not on the top of her own hierarchy, she knows and likes only herself, Claud, and people of the same class, depreciating the lower classes; her feet never “touch the ground.”
At the end of the story, God’s revelation is demonstrated more clearly, more like a revelation. In the queue, white-trash people and niggers are in front of Mrs. Turpin’s class and all of them are saved souls led to Heaven. Mrs. Turpin usually despises and condescends to people at the bottom of her classification, but they are in the lead after death. This passage echoes “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” in the Bible (Mark 10:31).
She is complacent because she has a little of all and she thinks God must favor her. God is omniscient and omnipotent that He saves all He wants to save, black or white, poor or rich. God has the last say; Mrs. Turpin doesn’t, but she thinks she does. Through Mary Grace’s onslaught and the visionary horde of souls, God wants Mrs. Turpin to ruminate over who can be saved and whether she is saved or not. It is not clear if Mrs. Turpin is saved or not, since it depends all on God’s will, but she does receive God’s message and start pondering on this issue.
Reference
O’Connor, Flannery. Revelation. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia (Eds.), An Introduction to Fiction (pp. 415-416, 443-458). United States: Longman, 2005.
Mrs. Turpin is a nice person that she takes care of her husband, she works hard, and she goes to church. She does not pray for beauty or wealth, instead, “Make me a good woman and it doesn’t matter what else, how fat or how ugly or how poor!” She thanks Jesus that “He had made her herself and given her a little of everything.” For all these, she thinks she can be saved. However, she is not admitted to Heaven yet and Mary Grace is the messenger.
Why is Mrs. Turpin not saved? Her own classification of people and the title of the book read and thrown by Mary provide the answer. Mrs. Turpin sorts people according to skin colors and ownership of houses and lands. Although she tries to be humble that she has only “‘a little’ of everything,” Mrs. Turpin actually thinks herself superior to the white-trash and niggers. She thinks all African Americans want to “improve their color” because the white is better, more modern and civilized along the history of “human development.” Therefore, Jesus Christ makes Mary Grace attack her to stop her vaunt and vanity and, more important, to pass the message. In view of this, the “you” in “What you got to say to me?” could both be Mary Grace, on the surface, and Jesus Christ, on a religious level.
Mary Grace’s name clearly tells us she is someone different, rather than just a fat, cynical girl. Mary is the name of the virgin mother of Jesus Christ, and Catholics often regard her as the intercessor and protector between them and God. As “a devout Roman Catholic,” Flannery O’Connor sets the character Mary Grace as an intercessor for Mrs. Turpin to let her know she is not guaranteed redemption and to lead her to grace, atonement from Jesus’ crucifixion. Besides the implication of the name, we can also see O’Connor’s arrangement in paragraph 35: “The girl’s eyes seemed lit all of a sudden with a peculiar light.” Interpreting from the religious aspect, it is possible that the figure Mary Grace sees is Jesus Christ. But, Mrs. Turpin “could not see anything” for she is too arrogant and confident.
Then, what is the revelation Jesus Christ wants to tell Mrs. Turpin? Hearing “Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog,” Mrs. Turpin is bewildered that she queries “How am I a hog and me both? How am I saved and from hell too?” “Wart hog” is undoubtedly a metaphor. Mrs. Turpin regards hogs intelligent and clean animals just as how she regards herself. Although she is not on the top of her own hierarchy, she knows and likes only herself, Claud, and people of the same class, depreciating the lower classes; her feet never “touch the ground.”
At the end of the story, God’s revelation is demonstrated more clearly, more like a revelation. In the queue, white-trash people and niggers are in front of Mrs. Turpin’s class and all of them are saved souls led to Heaven. Mrs. Turpin usually despises and condescends to people at the bottom of her classification, but they are in the lead after death. This passage echoes “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” in the Bible (Mark 10:31).
She is complacent because she has a little of all and she thinks God must favor her. God is omniscient and omnipotent that He saves all He wants to save, black or white, poor or rich. God has the last say; Mrs. Turpin doesn’t, but she thinks she does. Through Mary Grace’s onslaught and the visionary horde of souls, God wants Mrs. Turpin to ruminate over who can be saved and whether she is saved or not. It is not clear if Mrs. Turpin is saved or not, since it depends all on God’s will, but she does receive God’s message and start pondering on this issue.
Reference
O’Connor, Flannery. Revelation. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia (Eds.), An Introduction to Fiction (pp. 415-416, 443-458). United States: Longman, 2005.
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