As I read “Revelation,” I wondered why Mary Grace’s words lingered in Mrs. Turpin’s mind. But it seems possible that no one ever insulted Mrs. Turpin so directly before. Most of the characters at the doctor’s office agree with Mrs. Turpin’s assertions, and the African Americans who work for the Turpins continuously tell Mrs. Turpin that she’s the “sweetest white lady [they] know” (O’Connor 505). Until she is attacked by Mary Grace, it never occurs to Mrs. Turpin that she is not favored by God, but Mary Grace’s words make Mrs. Turpin believe that God himself is comparing her to a lowly animal.
Mrs.
Turpin judges others continuously and does not think that she deserves the judgement
she has been placing on others. At first, I found the conversation between Mrs.
Turpin and the other characters in the doctor’s office tedious. I was repelled
by the judgement running through nearly every line. But if I’m learning anything
about Flannery O’Connor, it is that, when her readers are uneasy, she has
reached her goal in showing her audience a fundamental flaw in human nature.
I was astounded by Mrs.
Turpin’s assertions that she is kind to all people, but then I realized that
Mrs. Turpin genuinely believes she is a good person. As Mrs. Turpin likes to remind
readers, “It’s no trash around here, black or white, that [she] hasn’t given to”
(O’Connor 597). Mrs. Turpin does not see the fault in her ways, which is why she
becomes furious when she believes that God is telling her she is no better than
those she considers beneath her.
When Mrs. Turpin sees the souls entering heaven, I thought of the Bible verse that says “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone” (King James Bible, John. 8:7). Mrs. Turpin’s derogatory comments and use of racial slurs clearly show that she casts plenty of stones. Through the vision of souls ascending to heaven, it seems that God is telling Mrs. Turpin that those she sees as worse than animals are ascending to heaven, while she is still on Earth. I think that when O’Connor wrote the ending of “Revelation,” she was reminding her readers that God does not favor one type of person over another, and people who think that they can choose who is worthy of heaven have overlooked God’s teachings.
Sources: The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
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ReplyDeleteHi Danielle! I really enjoyed how you ended your post with the idea that God does not “favor one type of person over another.” Mrs. Turpin evidently represents a character who believes she is a superior member of society simply because of her skin color and her wealth. I recognized this when Mrs. Turpin reveals her nighttime ritual of “naming the classes of people” (O’Connor 491). As you mention in your post, what she fails to recognize is that social rank in society does not determine God’s favor or entry into heaven. When Mrs. Turpin has the vision of the souls ascending into heaven, she sees “whole companies of white-trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black ___ in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping…” (O’Connor 508). She is shocked to see all of the different members of society ascending into heaven together. This reminded me of the bible verse from Revelation 7:9: “After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” I believe that this verse and Mrs. Turpin’s fictional vision demonstrate that social class and differing skin color--two things Mrs. Turpin values--are irrelevant in the eyes of God.
ReplyDeleteDanielle, I love your reference of the Bible in your writing. I agree with you that O'Connor in the end of Revelation is trying to show whoever reads her short story that although you can be a godly person, you may not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I also found it curious that she named this short story Revelation because to me, there really was no change within Mrs. Turpin, she simply stayed the same. She had no revelation. Then it made me think, did O'Connor name this chapter after the Bible's chapter of Revelations? As I was reading the end of your post, I actually had to pull out my Bible and read a few of my favorite verses about Heaven and I thought this one was quite interesting. In Matthew 7:21-23 it says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” This reminds me so much of Mrs. Turpin, even in the words "Lord Lord" as said in the Bible because she is constantly saying "Jesus Jesus!" She is one saying she is praising the Lord, but in reality, she is simply faking it in order to get into Heaven. I believe that ending scene was some sort of representation of that.
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