I really enjoyed reading "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor. I thought it was easy to read as well as understand. I thought the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, was an interesting character. She was a very spiritual character. When I was reading in the beginning, I kind of got the impression that she was jealous of Claud in a way. In the beginning, she would "brag" about him and how attractive he was. She also seemed like she had a high self esteem. She is overweight, and she knows this, but she still thought she was attractive and better than everyone else. She demonstrates this behavior in the waiting room. She had a negative comment and stereotypes about everyone who was in the waiting room. On page 824, she states white trash" are too lazy to light a fire", "There was nothing you could tell her about people like them that she didnt know already. And it was not because that they didnt have anything. Becuase if you gave them everything in two weeks it would all be broken or filthy or they would have chopped it up for lightwood". So, she thinks white trash as being lazy and people who can not have respect for their belongings.
Mrs. Turpin showed she had manners and was raised to respect elders, which ironic because the last thing she did in the waiting room, was show respect to individuals. She got really upset when the young boy did not move for the elderly lady. She shows shes "old fashion" and ladylike.
Mrs. Turpin also portrayed she did not like change. She liked everything and everyone to be like her and no different. She didn't like when different people were around. Mrs. Turpin was very interested and concerned with social classes and status. She used them to protect her and she used them to develop her views on life, as well, she used her expectations of different people to decide what her views were going to be. So she used people and social class and status to make her world up as well as categorized individuals. When anything got confusing or when she questioned the different social classes, it made her really worried and she could not concentrate. It made her confused about the world around her. She needed everything set in stone.
I found it vey interesting that she was very spiritual, but she questioned and yelled at god a lot throughout the story, which i found weird in a way. For example, she yelled at him for "calling" her a hog. She did not except it. She was shocked he would do such a thing. She kept yelling and questioning his choices. Then she challenged his decision by asking him why he did not make her black or white trash. I thought it was weird and ironic that she questioned gods choices a lot throughout the story, specially being so spiritual. I figured she would look at gods choices, more as everything happens for a reason.
The only part I was confused about was why did the "ugly girl" all of a sudden snap and go crazy on Mrs. Turpin. I did not think the girl could hear what Mrs. Turpin was saying. Out of the blue, the girl went off on Mrs. Turpin. It happened really fast while I was reading, that I went back and re read that part, to make sure I understood what had happened.
2 comments:
I think that it's very ironic that Mrs. Turpin accuses others of not having manners and knows that she herself wouldn't allow such rudeness. Although she thinks this in her head she seems to have just about the worst manners in the whole story. She can't just accept others for what or who they are, she seems to blame it on them as if they chose that life for them. Also she keeps exchanging glances with the other woman as if to say can you believe the rest of them in here. So she's not only thinking these things in her head she is looking over to the other lady for approval that her ideas of everyone are one hundred percent true.
I saw the way that Mrs. Turpin bragged about her husband as a sort of insecurity about herself, a way to bring others focus elsewhere. I the way that Mrs. Turpin has a perspect for her elders and manners, I saw that as a glimmer of old southern values in a changing society (surrounded by white trash and black people.) I also thought that it was intresting how fast Mary Grace turned on Mrs. Turpin and thought that maybe it was the author's way of showing change and the way God moves mysteriously.
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