Summary Of Revelation By Flannery O Connor

“The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.” This quote from a British preacher Charles Spurgeon accurately con-veys Flannery O’Connor’s works that are considered mere dramatizations of her stated religious views. O’Connor’s stories such as “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation” have au-thoritative narrators who analyze corrupt characters’ theological errors. She often focuses on characters’ grotesque path toward redemption. The term grotesque is defined as a work in which two separate modes are mixed and the result is a disturbing fiction wherein comic circumstances prelude horrific tragedy. O’Connor’s characters often experience redemption through personal pain which becomes a point of freedom in a continuing process of reformation. Her stories are set in the South where people like Mrs. Ruby Turpin and unnamed Grandmother show the illusion of sophistication through their faith, pride and manners, but in reality they live in a place shattered by violence, racism and oppression.
In “Revelation”, Ruby Turpin talks a lot.
She always prays and thank God him for mak-ing her who she is. She believes that by just being a white person with a good life she already has a straight path to heaven. Her knowledge does not lean on God’s will, but on the racist reality where she lives in. She is a self-righteous person who loves to classify people by their social class, color and size. She considers herself a good Christian woman because she worships God and she believes God will judge her by her strong faith. It is not until Mary Grace becomes violent and says terrible things to her for her to begin questioning her personal beliefs and Christianity. At the end of the story, Mrs. Turpin realizes that she has been wrong in what she believed in and it is through knowing that she was wrong that she achieves
Grace. Similar to Ruby Turpin, the unnamed Grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” never stops annoying his son Bailey by her selfish opinions. She is certain that being a “lady” who wears a carefully selected dress and a hat is the most important virtue of all. She is very self-centered and judgmental. The idea of her selfishness is noticeable when she tries to persuade the Misfit through her religious outdated moral views to save only herself from being killed. She tells him she has a “good blood” because she believes if a person comes from a worthy family and background they are considered good. She portrays transformation at the end of the story when she accepts the good and the bad side of the Misfit. It clearly demonstrates that it takes a near death situation for a person to have a deep realization and experience redemption.
O’Connor recognizes these two characters’ mistakes at the beginning of the stories, but they can eventually come to salvation. The only difference is the eye-opening experiences they go through which help them see who they really are. The moment of Grace in O’Connor’s stories by which through great pain, one suddenly finds escape from reality and sees their true self. All characters are introduced as sinners at first, but they all have capabilities to transform and be saved. O’Connor believes people have to be in miserable situations before they can find the act of Grace and value God’s presence in their lives.