Judgment and Hope in O’Connor’s “Revelation”
Robert Bradley
Dr. Ruzich
English Studies Seminar
Capstone
23 January 2023
Blog
Post 2: Judgment and Hope in O’Connor’s “Revelation”
In “Revelation” by Flannery O’Connor, the story’s main
character Ruby Turpin judges everyone she has the chance to judge; however,
when someone else judges her, at first, she doesn’t know how to handle that
judgment. The end of the story offers readers a conclusion neatly tied up with
a bow, as after judging all these people, Mrs. Turpin comes to the realization
that all people, no matter their social status or appearance, make it into
heaven. The vision that ends the story offers hope that people can change from
their hateful ways.
Throughout
“Revelation,” Mrs. Turpin judges numerous people in the small hospital waiting
room, especially the white trash lady and the child in the following excerpt: “Next
to the ugly girl was the child, still in exactly the same position, and next to
him was a thin leathery old woman in a cotton print dress. She and Claud had
three sacks of chicken feed in their pump house that was the same print” (O’Connor
494). The assumption that the material and pattern on the white trash lady’s
dress is the exact same as that of the chicken feed shows that Mrs. Turpin sees
herself as “above them.” Also, I think the fact that she is referred to as “white-trash”
consistently shows Mrs. Turpin’s belief of the white-trash lady’s inferiority
to her. Additionally, according to Paul Guenzel, Mrs. Turpin is “summoning all
her effort to smile at those she inwardly considers idiots, she endures their
well-meant compliments all while internally judging…” (Guenzel 2) when she is
complimented by the black characters who she deems “idiots.” Furthermore, Mrs.
Turpin judges herself and thinks of herself as “fat” in the following excerpt: “Mrs.
Turpin eased into the vacant chair, which held her tight as a corset. “I wish I
could reduce,” she said, and rolled her eyes and gave a comic sigh” (O’Connor 493).
Immediately after, the stylish lady suggests that Mrs. Turpin is not fat, but
Mrs. Turpin pretty much follows that with a “Yes, I am.” Therefore, Mrs. Turpin
has no issues judging herself or others, but when someone else judges her, it
seems like her tone shifts.
When Mrs. Turpin is called a rude name in the following
excerpt, it seems that the insult stuck—especially because Mrs. Turpin “sinks
back into her chair”: “The girl raised her head. Her gaze licked with Mrs.
Turpin’s. “Go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog,” she
whispered” (O’Connor 504). After the girl says this, Mrs. Turpin doesn’t say
much else at the hospital, and later, Mrs. Turpin is crying over the judgmental
comment. Even as she is telling the black workers of this, she is still judging
them, which shows how heavily embedded racism is into this story. Nonetheless,
this dose of her own medicine help lead into the story’s conclusion of the
vision Mrs. Turpin had of every person imaginable being in line for heaven.
All in all, I think Mrs. Turpin’s initial judgmentalness
and arch throughout the story—ending with hope Mrs. Turpin’s character development—shows
that people have the chance to change. Although a lot of people make the choose
not to change, it seems the vision seen by Mrs. Turpin at the end brings hope
in that sense.
Works Cited
Cassella, Dominic.
“Flannery O'Connor's Revelation: Daily Encounters with Grace and Ugliness.” The
Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture, 8 Apr. 2020,
restorationchristianculture.org/flannery-oconnors-revelation-daily-encounters-with-grace-and-ugliness/.
Flannery, O’Connor. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find – UFSC.” Gothic
Digital Series,
https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/160332/A%20good%20man%20is%20hard%20to%20find%20-%20Flannery%20O%27Connor.pdf.
Mrs. Turpin's inner monologue of everyone she meets in O'Connor's "Revelation" can definitely be described as judgmental. Your blog post made me contemplate why Mary Grace's judgment of Mrs. Turpin made such an impact on Mrs. Turpin. As you said, Mrs. Turpin is haunted by Mary Grace's final words, and Mrs. Turpin goes home and cries. This made me question if Mrs. Turpin has ever had someone judge her in the same manner she judges others. It is stated that Mrs. Turpin is of a higher social class than everyone she meets in the story because her husband owns a house and land. Because of her position, is it possible that no one has ever judged Mrs. Turpin before like Mary Grace did? Or has Mrs. Turpin been judged in the past and brushed off the comments without thinking twice? Is it the mere act of being judged that affected Mrs. Turpin enough to have a revelation or were Mary Grace's words more meaningful than those who judged Mrs. Turpin before her?
ReplyDeleteThis post feels similar to mine, we both went into the judgmental nature of Ruby Turpin. I personally did not go into the fact about how Mary Grace’s judgment of her affected her so much. I do want to talk about your reference to Ruby’s weight. I don’t know if this was just me, but I read this more in a sarcastic tone than in a serious one. She says ““Claud he eats all he wants to and never weighs over one hundred and seventy-five pounds, but me I just look at something good to eat and I gain some weight,” and her stomach and shoulders shook with laughter.” (O’Connor, 493). This to me, reads like someone who jokes about their own weight. Not in a judgmental way on herself, but it seems more like she is joking about herself. However, her comments on her weight do not translate when it comes to her comments on others' weight. She thinks that her own weight is fine but for other people, it's a problem. She thinks about Mary Grace at the beginning of the text like this, “Next to her was a fat girl of eighteen or nineteen…” (493). I do agree with you though that Ruby definitely feels like she is above other people. Especially when she is getting compliments from her African American workers and she doesn't take them as good because she considers them idiots. Like girly just takes the damn compliment jeez.
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