I really liked Flannery O'Connor's piece The Revelation. It gave me something to think about as I read it. The author was able to weave in the themes of racism, stereotypes, oppression and many others as she was able to use humor to write about a very touchy subject. I thought that the way that O'Connor used Mrs. Turpin as the reciever of this great mesage from God was ingenious, especially when she was the one who was so flawed and was so concerned with social hierarchy and what society thinks. It is interesting that Mary Grace, the one who is concerend the least with how society defines her is the one that the author chooses to give Mrs. Turpin this defining moment in her life. I love how the author chooses to use Mary Grace, a teenager to attack Mrs. Turpin. She can see in Mrs. Turpin what others cannot, that she has this shallowness and unkind heart. Children have the ability to see what others ccannot see and O'Connor choose to really play that out in The Revelation.
I also really liked the way the author used the white trash woman as a parallel for society- these people that are there, but that are either shunned or ignored. As she keeps trying to join in Mrs. Turpin and the pleasant lady's conversation, she is not able to because she is not of their class, nor is it socially acceptable for them to mix. Both are only trying to be cordially enough so the white trash woman will leave them alone. This is much the same with our society now. We see what happens with the different classes of people, but do we ever really open our eyes?
Flannery O'Connor also used the imagery of pigs when Mary Grace called Mrs. Turpin a "warthog from hell." This gives the picture that there are both the good and the bad to society and of the people themselves. I found it personally interesting that Mrs. Turpin saw this vision of heaven and all the different kinds of people that will be there- whites, blacks, poor, rich, middle-class, whatever they were on earth all gets mixed together and class is melted away.
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I think that the ending of this story was really surprising. I knew that Mrs. Turpin was very judgmental, but I didn't really think that she was going to get called out on it by a teenager. Once she is called out on in it's easy to see that this message isn't in fact coming from the teen but from above. O'Connor made a fun ironic twist there. We see Mrs. Turpin so religious and loving towards god, but then he yells at her. I think that it was good for her to get a little taste of her own medicine. Also, when she finally sees the vision of the sky and all different classes walking towards heaven together the reader just hopes that she finally gets the picture.
I like how you summarizede the ending of the story. It is interesting that Mrs. Turpin gets a message from God through a teenager, just going to show that a message can come from anywhere. That particular charcter was chosen very carefully by the author as a way of breaking down those stereotypes. I agree with you that maybe after the vision, Mrs. Turpin might just get what life is about and gain some compassion.
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