Camerina Gonzalez

Intro to Literature

Mrs. Turpin's Revelation

It is only when a human being it's humbled, that they can achieve true salvation.

Human beings should posses full submission to their inner instinct and natures. When an

individual attempts to perfect his or her identity, she or he is attempting to disrupt the

work of nature. Nature and the place of humans on earth are things that must be

struggled with and simultaneously cherished. Nature will not cease to be ambiguous any

time soon. To attempt to define it or perfect it, it’s pure arrogance. However, more

alarming than human arrogance, it’s human foolishness. In “Revelation,” we witness

Mrs. Turpin categorizing herself through her perfect exercise of religion, as indeed, more

perfect than the less dedicated Christians.

How weak Mrs. Turpin’s grasp on the core meaning of religion is, can be

observed easily. She is intelligent enough to succeed in affairs that in her mind make her

superior to those that have failed at them. She is competitive in the most trivial of

contests(social standing, finances, appearance, race). The outcome of these silly games

define her worth. She is highly unlikable throughout the story. Her demeanor is largely

one of someone that believes she is entitled to salvation because she has mastered the

rules of the church. She is not submissive to the power of religion, rather just a

participant.

“Again and again she creates a fiction in which a character attempts to live

autonomously, to define himself and his values, only to be jarred back to what she calls
“reality”- the recognition of helplessness in the face of contingency, and the need for

absolute submission to the power of Christ” (411). So it was O’Connor’s intention, in

this story as in many others to portray the unconscious Christian. I believe that both I and

O’Connor see Mrs. Turpin as saved at the end of the story.

She makes her way back to the house slowly, submissively. Witnessing herself

along the same path as every other human being was a blow to her self-esteem.

However, being that her belief system is so rigid and illogical, she will move on.

Realizing that largely her endeavors have been frivolous and fruitless she will in time

become properly humbled.

Kahane, Claire. “The Function of Violence in O’Connor’s Fiction.” The Compact

Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. New York: Bedford/St.

Martin’s,2009. 411.Print.