Redemption And Grace In Flannery O 'Connor's Revelation'

The theme of redemption and grace is apparent in many of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. God must overpower the character, sometimes causing suffering, and strike him with mercy so that the character can receive grace. The character has to recognize the evil in themselves and then they can be shocked into epiphanies that reveal harsh realities. Overpowerment: O’Connor reveals characters who are so flawed or evil that they require spiritual overpowerment by God in order to have any chance at redemption.

In the short story “Revelation,” O’Connor describes Mrs. Turpin as a character who needs redemption. Right from the beginning, the reader can tell that Mrs. Turpin is undeserving of grace and salvation. She is a Christian, but she believes

Turpin 's acceptance and understanding of the revelation. "The sun was getting whiter and whiter, blanching the sky overhead so that the leaves of the hickory tree were black in the face of it" (O’Connor, “Revelation” 377). As she walks toward the hog pen to wash down the animals, "The sun was a deep yellow now like a harvest moon and was riding westward very fast over the far tree line as if it meant to reach the hogs before she did” (O’Connor, “Revelation” 377). The sun represents God because it reveals to Mrs. Turpin the error of her ways before it’s too late. The sun is personified again when Mrs. Turpin sprays down the hogs angrily. "The sun was behind the wood, very red, looking over the paling of trees like a farmer inspecting his own hogs” (O’Connor, “Revelation” 378). It’s clear that the sun is meant to represent God, and that Mrs. Turpin, is like a hog. Mary Grace 's name represents the grace in the story. Mrs. Turpin is already "saved" because she is a Christian, but she needs a revelation from Mary Grace to realize that her world view is interfering with her religion. Mrs. Turpin asks Mary Grace, during her seizure, "What you got to say to me?" and waits, "as for a revelation." (O’Connor, “Revelation” 372). This reflects Mrs. Turpin’s selfishness because she worried about how Mary Grace’s actions related to her, not Mary Grace’s health. It also implies that Mrs. Turpin felt God in that moment because she was looking for a ‘revelation’. This leads to the revelation at the end of the story, so Mary Grace represents revelation and grace. In the revelation, the common people enter with dignity and do not seem to care that the lame are before them. Mrs. Turpin has spent so much time ranking people in “proper order” that she forgot the teachings of Christ. She walks back into the house when her revelation ends. She has just been saved by the grace of a forgiving