Flannery O 'Connor's Short Story Revelation'

Flannery O’Connor and the Prodigal Son

Flannery O’Connor, author of the short story “Revelation”, writes about characters that discover their world is not as they believe and that things are truly the opposite of how they appear. There are many moments of enlightenment in her story “Revelation”, as well as in the parable of the Prodigal Son. I will attempt to interpret this story as I think O’Connor would. In the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), there is a man with two sons. When the sons grow up, the younger asks his father for his inheritance and goes off to experience life. This is an outrageous decision on the son’s behalf. He is going against his father’s rules and ideas. He spends all his family’s hard earned money indulging on parties, women and material objects. He tries to survive on his
That is just like the brother that stayed home and followed his father’s rules when becomes very frustrated upon his brother’s arrival. In this, I believe he was erroneous. He should be celebrating that his brother is back and that he is in good health I believe that Flannery O’Connor would agree with me when I say that this is what is going to lead to this son’s revelation. He gets frustrated with the idea that his brother gets more attention even though his brother went against his father’s will, while he followed all of his rules and stayed home. Like Mrs. Turpin, in “Revelation”, realizes that she was wrong about her judgments on people and her situation in society. The older brother and Mrs. Turpin both are about to undergo a life changing revelation. She has a revelation and realizes that she isn’t better than some minorities and that in the end all people are equal. This brother has to realize the importance of family and the importance of forgiving. People must make mistakes and encounter very uncomfortable situations in order to learn and