Revelation (short story)
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| "Revelation" | |
| Author | Flannery O'Connor |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Southern Gothic |
| Published in | Everything That Rises Must Converge |
| Publication type | single author anthology |
| Publication date | 1965 |
"Revelation" is a short story written by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1965 along with a collection of other short stories in the book Everything That Rises Must Converge. O'Connor finished the collection during her final battle with lupus. She died in 1964, just before her final book was published. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.
"All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it, but most people think of these stories as hard, hopeless and brutal." - Flannery O'Connor
[edit] Plot summary
This story begins with Ruby Turpin, a very heavy set woman, entering a crowded waiting room at a doctor's office. She enters the room with her husband, Claude, who takes the last empty seat in the room. Almost immediately, Mrs. Turpin begins surveying the room and assessing the others seated around her. In her head, she labels each person: a pleasant woman, her daughter (an ugly girl with bad acne), a white trash woman and her sleeping son, and an old woman (the white trash's mother).
Mrs. Turpin strikes up a conversation with the pleasant woman about the importance of being refined and having a good disposition. They also talk about being grateful and how it is important to be thankful for the good things you have been given in life. The entire time they are conversing, the white trash woman repeatedly interjects comments that show her ignorance and lack of intelligence. The pleasant woman's daughter, Mary Grace, is a fat ugly girl with bad skin. She scowls at them and seemingly becomes angered throughout the course of the conversation.
All at once, Mary Grace hurls the book she is reading at Mrs. Turpin and lunges at her throat. The book, ironically titled Human Development, strikes Mrs. Turpin above her eye. The girl is subdued by the doctor and nurse who call an ambulance to come and take the girl away. Before she leaves, she whispers a very powerful message to Mrs.Turpin. Just loud enough for her to hear she says "Go back to hell where you belong, you old wart hog". This comment is very unsettling for Mrs. Turpin, and she wonders if it may have been a message from God trying to intervene in her life. With her mind ill at ease, she returns home and while working on her farm questions God outloud. As she contemplates the "message" he has sent her, she has a vision of the souls of the characters from the waiting room walking up to Heaven, and her soul last of all.
[edit] Characters
- Mrs. Ruby Turpin
- Claud
- Pleasant Woman
- Mary Grace
- White Trash Woman
- Old Woman
- Young Sleeping Child
- Negro Boy
- Doctor
- Nurse
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