revelation
Flannery O'Connor's background was a big influencing factor in her decision to write the short story "Revelation." One of the more important influences on the story is her Southern upbringing. During her lifetime, Southerners were very prejudiced towards people of other ethnicitys and lifestyles. The belief ran rampant that people who were less fortunate were inferior to them; therefore, people were labeled as different things and placed into different social classes. The Southern atmosphere provided O'Connor with much of the imagery she needed for her characters to be developed in the form that they are. The characters in the story are identified by physical characteristics and some are even identified with racial terms. The main character in the story is the one that is most noticeably prejudiced, making many statements spiced with racial jargon and stereotypes. For example, Mrs. Turpin, the main character, refers to the higher-class woman as "well-dressed and pleasant". She also labels the teenage girl as "ugly" and the poor woman as "white-trashy". When Mrs. Turpin converses with her black workers, she often uses the word "nigger" in her thoughts. These characteristics give us an inside glimpse of the Southern lifestyle in
she is actually trying to say. She was considered a tragic ironist, which wasn't understood by some people. O'Connor's stories also include quite a bit of symbolism. In this story, there are several points of symbolism. The teenage girl extremely dislikes Mrs. Turpin from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. Her dislike grows throughout the story and then erupts like a volcano. When her anger erupts, she throws a book at Mrs. Turpin. This book symbolizes her hatred toward Mrs. Turpin. It symbolizes her hatred because in a book, the plot develops and builds up over the course of the book. This is exactly what her anger did toward Mrs. Turpin. The book is not the only symbolism in "Revelation." In the doctor's office, there are several types of people. These different types of people symbolize the different types of social classes. For example, the white-trashy woman represents the lowest class with uneducated intelligence, the well-dressed woman represents a class of higher standards and intelligence along with an educated background, and Mrs. Turpin represents the middle, working class with average intelligence and educated background. This background, together with a believable plot, convincing characterization, and important literary devices enable Flannery O'Connor in "Revelation" to develop the theme that Through the use of social conflict, the element of surprise, and an unhappy ending, a believable plot is created. To further develop the theme, O'Connor uses consistent behavior, clear motivation, and plausibility to create convincing characterization. The protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, is convincing because she consistently curious and involved in conversation. She is also consistently observant of the other characters. O'Connor's characters are victimized and are images of lower intelligence. Mrs. Turpin, however, does appear to be of average intelligence. Her behavior in the story mirrors the Southern image given to her by O'Connor. In the beginning of "Revelation," Mrs. Turpin is a polite and outgoing individual, and these are characteristics that remain with her. In
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Approximate Word count = 1419
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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